Mayor apparent: High Court issues notices to ECP, others

Hassaan was elected chairman unopposed from UC-107

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday issued notices to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and other respondents in connection with a petition seeking the disqualification of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khwaja Ahmad Hassaan as the Union Council-107 chairman.

Zubair Niazi of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) challenged the qualification of Hassaan who was elected chairman unopposed from the union council in the local government elections.

As the court resumed hearing the petition, Advocate Sheraz Zaka, the counsel for the petitioner, said the respondent had held various positions across several public departments including the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC). He said Section 27 of the Local Government Act 2013 barred a person who had held an office of a statutory body controlled by a provincial government from contesting local government elections for a two-year period.

Zaka said the respondent had resigned from the positions days before filing papers to contest the local government elections. He said Hassaan, the mayor apparent, had failed to overcome the two-year bar.  The counsel for the petitioner requested the court to disqualify him from the chairmanship of the union council.

Justice Shahid Karim sought replies from the ECP and other respondents by March 31 following the conclusion of arguments.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2016.