PHC issues notice to JUIF chief in reserved seats case

PESHAWAR: Suspending the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) notification and the notice to Sadaf Ihsan, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Saturday declared that justice cannot be dispensed without hearing the viewpoint of chief of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) in this case.

A division bench of the PHC comprising Justice SM Attique Shah and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah issued a short order and declared that the verdict in the instant case was announced in the open court. However, the court said certain important points emerged and the bench reached the conclusion that the verdict would not meet criteria of justice without the JUIF chief presenting his stance in this writ petition.

According to the short order, the parties were asked to present their arguments again, so the criteria of justice could be met. The court issued a notice to the JUIF chief besides suspending the ECP notice to Sadaf Ihsan and its notification about de-seating.

It may be mentioned that the PHC had declared the suspension of membership of Sadaf Ihsan of JUIF, who was elected on a reserved seat to the National Assembly, null and void and restored her membership.

Counsel for the petitioner had told the court that his client had been elected to the National Assembly on the JUIF reserved seat and the ECP had notified her election on March 4 last.

He had said the ECP later stopped Sadaf Ihsan from taking oath after a complaint was lodged by Hina Bibi that the former had neither any affiliation with the JUIF nor her name was in the list of party candidates for reserved seats. He argued the ECP then conducted an inquiry and subsequently suspended Sadaf Ihsan’s membership of the National Assembly.

The lawyer said the ECP had violated its jurisdiction by suspending the NA membership of his client, saying it was the job of election tribunals already in place to hear such petitions.