Tyrian case takes a new turn

IHC to form new bench to hear plea against Imran, according to clarification

ISLAMABAD:

. In a strange development, the opinion of two of the three Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges who heard a petition seeking former prime minister Imran Khan disqualification for hiding his alleged daughter was uploaded on the court’s website only to be subsequently removed.

A three-judge bench, led by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, on March 30 reserved its verdict while hearing a petition that sought disqualification Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan as a lawmaker.

The petition, filed by last year a citizen, Muhamamd Sajid, said Imran Khan did not mention his daughter Tyrian White in his nomination papers as well as an affidavit submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ahead of August 2018 general elections.

On Wednesday, the opinion of Justice Kayani and Justice Tahir appeared on the IHC website. In the notes, which ran to 31 pages, the two judges dismissed the petition as inadmissible.

The mysterious publication of the judges’ notes created a controversy and later in the day the IHC public relation officer (PRO) issued a clarification.

In the statement, the PRO said the verdict of the bench in the Tyrian White case had not been issued so far and that the “opinion” of two bench members was uploaded without issuance of the cause-list and notifying the parties.

“The opinion of the two judges is not the court's verdict. The opinion was uploaded in violation of the rules. A new bench is going to be constituted for rehearing the case. The court will take action against those responsible for uploading the opinion on the website,” said the statement.