PTI prays to SC to dismiss Zafar Ali Shah’s petition

ISLAMABAD: PTI on Tuesday prayed to the Supreme Court to dismiss with heavy costs the petition filed by former PML-N Senator Syed Zafar Ali Shah challenging a judgement of Islamabad High Court. “The judgement of the Islamabad High Court of April 14, 2015 challenged before the apex court is liable to be dismissed with heavy costs because it is inherently a frivolous petition,” Hamid Khan, counsel for the PTI prayed to the apex court, while filing a reply.
Former PML-N Senator Zafar Ali Shah had filed a petition before the IHC seeking the disqualification of the PTI lawmakers who had resigned their seats last year. He had prayed the IHC to accept the writ petition and declare all the PTI MNAs who had voluntarily tendered their resignations before the speaker National Assembly as ex-MNAs.
The IHC, however, while dismissing the instant petition, had ruled: “It is the exclusive domain of the speaker to, independently and judiciously, apply his mind while deciding on the resignation of a legislator.
“Neither can this court usurp the powers vested in the speaker, nor make him go through the rigours of adducing evidence in the court, inevitably expressing a lack of respect for the office of the speaker and the representative forum of the people of Pakistan i.e. the National Assembly,” the court had ruled.
The judgment, referring to the petitioner, also noted: “Only the candidates of the concerned seat may challenge the election of a returned candidate, with evidence, beyond the shadow of doubt”. In such a case, the judgment noted, the court must protect the interests of a lawmaker’s constituents who may be affected by his resignation. Syed Zafar Ali Shah later on, challenged the verdict of the IHC before the Supreme Court.
On Tuesday, Hamid Khan, counsel for PTI while submitting reply on behalf of PTI legislators prayed to the apex court to dismiss the writ petition with heavy costs. The PTI contended that the learned High Court has correctly held that neither the petition filed before it by the petitioner was maintainable nor did it require intervention of the court in exercise of power and jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution.
Hamid Khan further submitted that the matter of resignations of members of the National Assembly falls outside the jurisdiction of the High Courts as the matter relates exclusively to the functioning of the Parliament. Thus he submitted that the High Court correctly held that that the matter was outside the parameters of its jurisdiction.