PHC postpones by-polls on 24 NA seats

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday ordered the postponement of National Assembly (NA) by-polls scheduled for March 16 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, adjourning the hearing of the PTI lawmakers’ resignation plea till March 7.

A division bench comprising Justice Syed Muhammad Attique Shah and Justice Syed Arshad Ali heard the petition filed against National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf's acceptance of the resignations of PTI MNAs, requesting the court to postpone the by-polls.

The PHC issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The PTI lawmakers had challenged the acceptance of their resignations in the PHC, urging the court to hear the case on an urgent basis as by-elections were scheduled to be held on March 16.

The by-elections were to be held on a total number of 24 seats in the province.

During the proceedings, Deputy Attorney General Sanaullah apprised the court that the PTI MNAs didn't attend the assembly proceedings even for a day during the last 11 months, adding that they only tendered their resignations and didn't approach the speaker afterwards.

He said, "All preparations for the by-polls have been done and even the petitioner is a contesting candidate."

The economic situation of the country does not allow for the postponement of elections, Sanaullah added.

The PHC bench after hearing the arguments of both the sides issued a short order of postponement of the elections and sent a notice to the ECP fixing March 7 as the date for hearing the PTI MNAs' resignation plea.

During the hearing on Thursday, Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan inquired why the former lawmakers had resigned in the first place if they wanted to go back to the assembly.

The lawyer said that the MNAs had resigned in protest against PTI Chairman Imran Khan's ouster from the premier's office.

Irked at the reply, Justice Ejaz Anwar remarked that the PTI members “think that this is child's play. Earlier, they used to say the resignations should be accepted.

They used to go to the speaker in the form of a procession and now they want to return to the NA”.

During the hearing, the former ruling party's counsel had requested the court to postpone the by-polls that had been scheduled to take place on March 16.

(With input from app)