In view of by-elections PTI moves SC for early hearing of Omar, Shibli cases

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday requested the Supreme Court (SC) to hear next week disqualification case of its senior leaders Omar Ayub Khan and Shibli Faraz as elections on the seats they vacated are scheduled to be held soon.

Both the leaders filed a second application in the apex court through Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, praying the court fix the hearing of the petitions on Monday in the interest of justice.

They contended that the matter is most urgent to hear otherwise petitions would become infructuous, which is not warranted in law.

It was contended that the petitioner was an MNA and also appointed as Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.

The petitioner said that on on August 5, the ECP, without any reference from the Speaker National Assembly, on its own and without hearing of the applicant de-seated him, disqualified him for five years under Article 63(1)(h) of the Constitution. It was submitted that the Speaker too without hearing him de-notified the applicant as Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly on August 7, adding that the applicant assailed the notification before Peshawar High Court.

It was further submitted that the court heard the matter and announced the order on October 1 whereby the writ petitions were adjourned sine die, and held that relief could not be extended as the applicants were fugitive from court in a criminal case.

The applicants were not fugitive from any court in KP and were present before the High Court, says the application adding that very fundamental rights of the applicants were involved and without statutory backing the doctrine of fugitive from justice could not have been extended to adversely affect their fundamental rights in civil cases or writ petitions.

The court was further informed that the first schedule for holding Senate election on Shibli Faraz seat was announced calling nominations on October 8 and 9 and polling day was fixed as October 30. Now schedule for election in NA-18 (Omer Ayub Khan’s seat) has been announced.

It was further submitted that copy thereof has already been filed in this court as an additional document.

It was submitted that nomination forms would be filed from October 15 till October 17 and the Election Day has been fixed for October 23.

“Hence, this application for early hearing otherwise the titled CPLA would offer a fait accompli, which is not warranted in law”, the petitioners submitted.

Giving grounds for urgency, both the PTI leaders contended that the order is not tenable, inter alia, on the grounds as urged in the titled CPLA.

The applicant has not only been de-seated as MNA or de-notified as Leader of Opposition but also disqualified for five years without hearing the applicant and without any reference from the Speaker,” the application added.

It was submitted that now, schedule for holding of election has been announced and nominations are to be filed from October 15 till October 17. Hence, they submitted that this application for early hearing be entertained, otherwise the titled CPLA would become infructuous which is not warranted in law.