Wrong forum: PAT told to approach election commission

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has directed the Pakistan Awami Tehreek to move the election commission for the disqualification of Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah as the high court is not the proper forum to decide the case.

On Monday, LHC Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah while hearing the petition filed by PAT’s Abdul Qayyum said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was the appropriate forum and the petitioner should avail the option first.

The petitioner had submitted that Sanaullah was not an honest person, and should be disqualified from the assembly. The law minister, he added, was nominated in the murder case of 14 PAT workers slain in the Model Town tragedy. He alleged Sanaullah being a minister would influence the investigations and must be removed from this seat for an impartial of the accused.

After hearing the arguments, Justice Mansoor disposed of the petition while directing the ECP to decide the matter in accordance with law.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2016.