Credit card case: Speaker’s reply sought by April 23

Shumaila Rana is seeking restoration of her assembly seat, claiming she was forced to resign.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday directed the counsel for the Punjab Assembly speaker to seek instructions from him and inform the court on April 23 his position on former PML-N MPA Shumaila Rana’s petition of seeking restoration of her assembly seat. Rana had resigned her membership of the assembly after charges of a credit card theft were brought against her.

Advocate Rana Asadullah Khan said that he had not sought instructions from the speaker, Rana Iqbal Ahmad Khan and assured the judge he will file a response.

The judge remarked the certain questions of law were involved in the case and the court would have to decide them irrespective of the speaker’s statement.

Shumaila had resigned in July 2009, she says under pressure from party colleagues.

She said that after the registration of the case PML-N committee comprising Senator Pervez Rashid, MNA Pervez Malik, Muhammad Ajmal, the secretary to the chief minister and the additional law secretary, Naseem Sadiq was formed. She said three PML-N leaders Khwaja Saad Rafique, Zulfiqar Ali Khosa and Raja Ashfaq Sarwar, had attended every session of the committee.

She alleged that these leaders had harassed her and made her resign from her seat. She said armed men were sent to her house to pressure her. Subsequently, she said, she did sign the resignation from the assembly. She said that the credit card theft case against her was baseless. The media and opposition leaders had created hype, she said. She said that her family had received threats during the period that she was resisting pressure to resign.

Rana said that the allegation and the forced resignation had disturbed her and damaged her image.

She said that despite her being acquitted on March 1, 2010, the speaker had held her resignation valid. She said that according to Rule 35 of the Procedures of Provincial Assembly Punjab 1997, the speaker should have held an inquiry before accepting her resignation.

She asked the court to declare the notification of acceptance of her resignation illegal and without lawful authority. She also asked the court to order the respondents [speaker and election commission] to notify her as MPA.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 02^nd, 2011.