Petition filed: Oath by MNAs, Senators questioned

Petitioner said oath submitted along with nomination papers was faulty, un-Islamic and therefore inadmissible.

KARACHI:

A division bench of the Sindh High Court on Tuesday ordered notices to be issued to the federal government, Election Commission of Pakistan, National Assembly speaker, Senate chairman and all the major political parties for August 28 in a petition questioning the oath pledged and signed by candidates along with nomination papers.

The bench earlier heard Haji Gul Ahmed, Amir of Anjuman-e-Islaah-e-Maashira, who maintained that oath taken or pledged by candidates to National Assembly or Senate seats, federal ministers, etc were un-Islamic and illegal as none is taken in the name of Allah.

The petitioner referred to the nomination papers submitted by Rahman Malik to a Senate seat from Sindh and said oath submitted along with nomination papers was faulty, un-Islamic and therefore inadmissible. He prayed to the court to declare the nomination papers by federal interior advisor as incomplete and in violation of Islamic tenets. The petitioner also sought a direction to the ECP for not accepting any defective nomination papers and orders for changes in the oath. He maintained that oath should be in the name of Allah.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2012.