Appeal seeking PM’s, Punjab chief minister’s disqualification dismissed

LAHORE: A division bench of the Lahore High Court dismissed an inter-court appeal as not maintainable, which had sought disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for their alleged corrupt practices. A local resident Faisal Naseer had filed this appeal against a single bench order.

During the hearing on Monday, the bench inquired from the petitioner’s counsel if he had approached the Election Commission of Pakistan or the National Assembly speaker. The applicant's counsel said the speaker was not inclined to hear the applicant.

The bench dismissed the appeal by observing that a member of parliament or provincial assembly could not be disqualified without approaching the relevant forum. A single bench comprising Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza on Dec 13, 2016 had dismissed the original petition which had alleged that corruption was rampant in all the government institutions without any accountability.