Sindh

Man goes to court claiming presidential oath is ‘un-Islamic’

SHC issues notice on plea to stay presidential elections.

Our Correspondent July 23, 2013

quot the president s post is of the highest authority but the oath pledged by the elected candidates is not made in accordance with the quran and sunnah quot petitioner haji gul ahmed

"The president’s post is of the highest authority but the oath pledged by the elected candidates is not made in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah," Petitioner Haji Gul Ahmed.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court issued a notice to the federal law officer on a plea seeking a stay against the upcoming presidential elections until the oath pledged by the head of the state is made Islamic.

The division bench headed by Justice Ghulam Sarwar Korai adjourned the hearing till August 5. At a preliminary hearing, a public interest litigant, Haji Gul Ahmed, pleaded the court to grant a stay on the upcoming presidential elections. The president’s post is of the highest authority in the country, however, the oath pledged by the elected candidates as head of the state is not made in accordance with the Holy Quran and Sunnah, he argued.

He claimed that oaths pledged by the candidates elected to National Assembly and Senate, federal ministers, and the president are all un-Islamic and unlawful, as the oath is not taken in the name of Allah. He urged that any candidate, who pledges such an oath, violates the Islamic teachings as well as the articles 31, 62 (d)(e)(f), 2-A and 227 of the Constitution.

Ahmed pleaded to the court to declare that the oath should be made in the name of Allah. “Till then the process of presidential election should be stayed,” he requested the court.

After the hearing, the two judges issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Council of Islamic Ideology, deputy attorney general and others for August 5.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2013.