Sumaira Malik case: Justice Minallah recuses himself

ISLAMABAD: Justice Athar Minallah of Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday recused himself from hearing a plea challenging Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to void the election of PML-N's Sumaira Malik as the chairperson of the district council in Khushab district.

The move came after the respondents expressed  a lack of confidence in the bench. Justice Minallah sent the case back to Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar to constitute a new bench.

It is pertinent to mention that the ECP on December 28, had annulled the election of Malik as chairperson of the council by a majority vote of three to one following allegations of a voter flaunting his ballot paper at the time of polling. Malik subsequently approached IHC against the ECP decision and after preliminary arguments the court suspended the decision for two days.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2017.