Intra-court appeal: Petitioner wants Nisar, Nawaz disqualified

LAHORE:

An intra-court appeal was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday against the dismissal of a petition against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

Insaf Lawyers’ Forum-Punjab senior vice president Advocate Gohar Nawaz Sindhu filed the appeal.

Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah had earlier dismissed his petition seeking the disqualification of the prime minister and the interior minister for allegedly lying in the parliament.

Justice Shah had ruled that the question regarding the statements made by the prime minister and the interior minister on the floor of the National Assembly and the subsequent press release issued by Inter Services Public Relations fell “within the ambit of political question and was not justiciable”.

The judge observed that the petitioner should take the matter before an appropriate political forum.

Advocate Sindhu said the prime minister and minister had violated the Constitution by lying to the nation that the government had not invited the chief of army staff to play his role as mediator.

He stated the ISPR had denied the government’s version. He pleaded that the government had tried to give an impression that the COAS had intervened in the situation on the request of the PTI and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).

The lawyer said that under Article 63 of the Constitution, a member of the parliament who defamed or ridiculed army stood disqualified. Therefore, he said, the court should disqualify the prime minister and interior minister under Article 63.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 7^th, 2014.