LHC dismisses PTI's plea seeking disqualification of PM Shehbaz, cabinet

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday dismissed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) petition seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet from office.

In the petition filed by PTI leaders Andleeb Abbas and Hassan Niazi, the party claimed that PM Shehbaz and his cabinet had "violated the law".

It maintained that the premier and his ministers had meetings with accused offenders and shared official secrets with the accused living abroad. The former ruling party was alluding to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, who Shehbaz and other senior PML-N leaders had met with in London in May.  

At the onset of the hearing earlier today, the court inquired under what authority the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) could disqualify the premier.

Abbas's lawyer requested to be given more time. However, Justice Shahid Waheed remarked that the lawyer had pushed for the case to be heard during vacations, so no more time could be given.

Read: PTI moved LHC against PM Shehbaz, cabinet

Subsequently, the court dismissed the plea after it was taken back by petitioners. 

Speaking to the media outside the LHC, Andleeb Abbas said that their case was an open case. The federal government had met and discussed state affairs with proclaimed offenders, she added.

She claimed that whenever the PTI has tried to bring the case forward, they have faced obstacles. "Now we are told that it [the petition] does not have required documents attached. Before, we were told we did not have the required signatures," she said. 

Abbas stated that these delays will not stop them from perusing the case because "the sovereignty of Pakistan is at stake".