Political Office: Full bench to hear Zardari petition

LHC CJ to hear petitions against President Zardari for allegedly not disassociating himself from political activities.

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice (CJ) Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry constituted a full bench to hear petitions against President Asif Ali Zardari for allegedly not disassociating himself from political activities. Earlier, on September 14, the CJ had constituted a bench to hear cases against the president and prime minister but now the bench would only hear the petition against the president. The bench would be headed by Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, while Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh would be the other members of the bench. Advocate AK Dogar had filed these petitions on behalf of Rana Ilmudin Ghazi and sought direction for President Zardari to disassociate himself from the political office of PPP co-chairperson in light of a decision given by a full bench of the court in May this year. The petitioner submitted that in its order the bench had declared the involvement of president in political activities unconstitutional. The petitioner also listed political activities at the presidency after the court’s judgment. He prayed to the court to issue a of a writ of prohibition requiring the president to act in accordance with the LHC order.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2011.