Federal law secretary summoned by LHC

Federal law secretary is summoned in a petition seeking the disqualification of Zardari as PPP’s co-chairperson.

LAHORE: A full bench of the Lahore High Court summoned the federal law secretary to court on October 4 in a petition seeking the disqualification of President Asif Ali Zardari for the office of PPP’s co-chairperson.

The court has summoned the secretary to inquire about the absence of the Federation’s counsel from the court yesterday.The court had issued notice to the Attorney General of Pakistan but, so far, no one from that office has appeared before the court.

Previously, counsel for President Zardari and a deputy attorney general had objected that the petitioner, Pakistan Lawyers’ Forum, lacked locus standi to move this petition and the maintainability question should be decided in the first instance. The bench disagreed.  The counsel for the respondent subsequently boycotted the proceedings.The petitioner’s counsel, AK Dogar, said that absence of respondent’s counsel amounted to contempt of court. He also said that the respondent apparently had nothing to plead.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2010.