Verdict on public office eligibility cases next month: IHC

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) said on Monday to announce a joint verdict on all petitions related to the eligibility of public office holders on March 9, including the case of Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry.

“The court will issue a verdict on all the petitions and it will decide once and for all,” IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked while hearing a case related to the eligibility of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader. The court’s registrar was subsequently directed for gathering the pending applications.

During the proceedings, Chief Justice Minallah said the court used to abstain from interfering in cases of political nature and added dragging the court into political matters had been causing harm to it.

“Declaring a public office holder ineligible also causes harm to the people of that constituency,” he said, adding: “[Even] if people elect wrong representatives the matter relating to their eligibility or ineligibility should be decided outside the court.”

Speaking on the occasion, the minister said it was a classic case of blackmailing and “the court should save us from it”. He also asked the court to dismiss the petition and impose a fine on the petitioner.