SHC moved for by-elections to PA seats vacated by PTI lawmakers

Karachi
The Sindh High Court has issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and other officials on a petition seeking by-elections to three provincial assembly constituencies in Karachi following the resignations of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmakers.
Petitioner Mohammad Shahid Sheikh and others stated in the petition that PTI MPAs Syed Hafeezuddin, Samar Ali Khan and Khurrum Sher Zaman — who were declared as returned candidates on PS-93, PS-112 and PS-113 — had resigned from their offices to protest against alleged rigging in the 2013 election. Their resignations were accepted by the Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani on January 21, 2015.
The petitioners said that despite acceptance of their resignations, the ECP had not announced the schedule of by-election in the vacant constituencies as it was mandated to do so. They requested the court to issue directives to the Durrani to de-notify the PTI lawmakers from the roll of Sindh Assembly’s MPAs and inform the ECP about it so that by-election could be held on the vacant seats.

Plea against Ajmal Pahari’s shifting
The SHC Sindh High Court’s division bench on Wednesday declined to hear a petition against the shifting of Muttahida Quami Movement activist Mohammad Ajmal alias Pahari from Karachi to Sukkur and referred the matter to Chief Justice SHC Justice Faisal Arab for further orders.
Petitioner Fouzia Hussain had stated in the application that her spouse Mohammad Ajmal had been moved to Sukkur prison even though all cases against him were being heard in Karachi.
The petitioner’s counsel said Pahari had been incarcerated for past three years and his all cases were pending before the court. He requested the court to order the authorities to shift him back to Karachi prison so his cases could be heard and decided. The court observed that the undertrial prisoner was shifted for running a crime network while being in prison and such activities could not be allowed. The court declined to hear the matter and referred the case to Chief Justice Arab.
The superintendent of Central Jail Karachi had filed comments on petitions filed against the shifting of undertrial prisoners, including Nazim Hussain, Fahad Jamal and Ajmal Pahari. He had said that 61 undertrial prisoners and five convicted ones had been shifted to other cities of the province over security threats and their cases had also been shifted to other districts for expeditious trials.
The jail official said that the presence of around 5,200 prisoners belonging to militant outfits could lead to a terrorist attack and a jail break, similar to the ones in Bannu and DG Khan. The court was asked to dismiss the petition as since the prisoners were transferred in accordance with the law and on the directives of high court.