ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Athar Minallah, has stated that the court cannot provide directives to the speaker of the National Assembly and advised the PTI to return to the parliament as this is the appropriate platform to address such issues.
On Thursday, the IHC CJ made these remarks when he heard a petition from PTI MNAs whose resignations were accepted by NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf. Justice Minallah opened the hearing by stating that the court respects the parliament and pointed out that a related petition has already been submitted on the subject.
Justice Athar Minallah stated, “This court cannot issue orders to the speaker of the National Assembly.” He further noted that IHC had only requested a review in the Shakoor Shad case. The PTI lawmaker’s attorney, Barrister Ali Zafar, informed the court that his clients had not contacted the IHC in violation of party policy. The judge did point out that the petitioners had acknowledged that their resignations were “genuine”.
However, the attorney informed the court that his clients considered Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had broken his constitutional duty. He noted that the resignations were submitted under the understanding that all 123 would be accepted and reminded the court that just 11 were. Justice Minallah said that the MNAs whose resignations were still pending were subsequently told to return to parliament.