IHC’s registrar office had said petitioner has no locus standi. PHOTO: IHC WEBSITE
IHC Chief Justice Anwar Khan Kasi declared that the petition was not maintainable as the petitioner has no locus standi (right to speak) in the matter. Earlier in the morning, the court had reserved the verdict over maintainability after the petitioner’s counsel concluded his arguments over maintainability.
IHC’s registrar office had raised objections that the petitioner has no locus standi in raising such issues. The registrar office has held that the petitioner was in no manner an aggrieved party to raise questions over the issue. In the decision, the court also upheld the same.
When the case was taken up, the counsel for the petitioner, Kokab Iqbal, argued over objections saying they were invalid as the matter would affect the public. He gave the example of elected representatives of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying the PTI members submitted their resignations but the matter was prolonged and resignations were never accepted.
Iqbal had requested the court to restrain the speakers of the national and Sindh assemblies and chairman Senate from toeing the government line in the matter of resignations submitted by MQM’s legislators.
Petitioner Muhammad Dawood Ghazanavi had approached the court seeking directions for the speakers of the National Assembly, Sindh Assembly and the chairman Senate to do their work under the law by deciding the matters of resignations submitted by the legislators of MQM within a reasonable time frame to be setup by the court.
He had made the law secretary, speakers of National Assembly, Sindh Assembly and chairman Senate as respondents.
In the petition, Ghazanavi through his counsel stated that the members of the MQM handed over their resignations from national, provincial assemblies as well as Senate on August 12 depriving voters of having fair and equitable representation in the Parliament.
“The citizens of Pakistan in those constituencies, which MQM party members represent, have been deprived of having fair and equitable representation in the Parliament,” he stated.
“Putting the citizens of Pakistan in those constituencies into limbo without the representation in the Parliament is also an infringement of their fundamental rights,” he stated in the petition.
Moreover, he stated, it has become a sordid practice amongst political parties to blackmail the government by tendering resignations of their MNAs, MPAs and Senators and prolonging the matter.
He had prayed the court to direct the respondents to decide the matters of resignations submitted by the legislators of MQM.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 20th, 2015.
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