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PTI’s return to NA: LHC declares acceptance of 72 MNAs resignations ‘invalid’

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  • 72 PTI MNAs to appear before NA speaker to withdraw resignations.
  • Khan’s return to Parliament to bring about ‘real democracy’: lawyer.
  • [We have] pinned all hopes on Raja Pervez Ashraf: Riaz Fatyana.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday declared “null and void” the acceptance of the resignations of 72 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members of the National Assembly, including Fawad Chaudhry, Hammad Azhar, and Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

The petition against the acceptance of the resignations was filed by former MNA Riaz Fatyana and was heard by Justice Shahid Karim of the LHC.

During the hearing, Justice Karim declared that the acceptance of the resignations by the NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was “invalid”.

A court had directed the 72 members to appear before the NA speaker to withdraw their resignations and instructed the NA speaker to take a decision after hearing all the members again.

The notifications of accepting the resignations of Shafqat Mahmood and Fatyana were also declared “null and void”.

‘Historic decision’

Speaking to media personnel outside the LHC, PTI lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar said that the court had given a “historic decision”.

“With this decision, the [country’s] political crisis will also be resolved,” he declared.

He said that the court had accepted the petition against the de-notification of PTI MNA, who would now appear before the speaker.

He further added that after appearing in the inquiry, the MNAs would retract their resignations.

“Once the ECP’s de-notification is retracted, these MNA’s will be able to join the National Assembly,” he shared.

He further said that with the reversal of the resignations, PTI Chairman Imran Khan would be able to “play his role for the nation as the opposition leader in Parliament.”

“It is hoped that the speaker will complete the inquiry as per the law and allow the PTI MNAs to return [to the assembly],” he said.

‘Step towards democracy’

The former MNA, while addressing the media outside the provincial top court said that the court’s decision was a “positive step towards the constitution and democracy”.

There is no democracy without opposition, Fatyana said, adding that the PTI’s return to Parliament would bring back “real democracy” to the country.

“Pervez Ashraf is the custodian of entire House and does not represent any party,” he said, adding, “[We have] pinned all our hopes on Raja Pervez Ashraf.”

The resignation saga

The MNAs were among the lawmakers who had resigned after the PTI-led government was ousted via a no-confidence motion in April last year.

Back then, the PTI had claimed that resignations were accepted by former deputy speaker Qasim Suri in the absence of a speaker after Asad Qaiser’s resignation.

Speaker Ashraf, after his election, approved the resignations of 11 PTI lawmakers in July 2022. He had stalled the process stating the remaining lawmakers would be summoned individually for verification.

However, contrary to his stance, he quickened the process once PTI in January announced its return to the assembly and “test” the PM through a confidence vote.

The PTI resignations were accepted by NA speaker Ashraf in four stages: 11 in the first phase, while 35, 34, and 43 in the second, third, and fourth phases, respectively.

However, several PTI lawmakers challenged the decision in the LHC.

The high court, while suspending the ECP notification had also stayed the by-elections on 43 constituencies till further notice.

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LHC requests report on dangers to PTI founder’s life

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The Punjab Advocate General’s report about threats to the life of PTI founder Imran Khan while he was incarcerated was requested by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday.

Chief Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmed Khan of the LHC Court made the order while considering a request for the PTI founder’s security in jail made by President Afzal Azim of the Tehreek-e-Insaf Lawyers Forum.

Advocate Afzal requested that the court impose severe security measures on the PTI founder, arguing that the jail authorities had prohibited their meeting with him due to security concerns.

Advocate General Khalid Ishaq questioned the application’s maintainability as soon as the proceedings began. He stated that since it was the Punjab government’s responsibility to safeguard him, he would request a report on security concerns.

We cannot afford any more significant mishaps, Chief Justice Khan said. While Benazir Bhutto and Liaquat Ali Khan were slain, the founder of the PTI managed to elude a murderous attempt on his life.

He gave the counsel general instructions to find out how concerned the PTI founder is about security.

The plea can be heard in the Rawalpindi bench, not in the primary seat, the advocate general objected.

The hearing was postponed till April 3 by Chief Justice Khan, who instructed Attorney Afzal to present his petition on the following date.

Recall that on Thursday, Advocate Afzal petitioned the court to order the Punjab Home Department and the federal government to give the PTI founder greater security.

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“Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” for farmers gets approved by CM Punjab

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At a meeting on agricultural reforms, Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz presided over the approval of the “Nawaz Sharif Kisan Card” for farmers.

Farmers would receive a variety of subsidies through the Kisan Card scheme, and 500,000 small farmers in Punjab will be eligible for loans totaling Rs 150 billion over the course of a year. Each farmer will receive Rs 30,000 for every acre of land used for agriculture.

CM Maryam Nawaz announced during the meeting that a model agriculture center will be constructed in each district of the province with the assistance of the commercial sector, enabling farmers to discard phony fertilizers and medications.

The establishment of a cutting-edge center of excellence for research development on cotton, wheat, and rice crops was approved during the conference, and the Agriculture Department was instructed to gather comprehensive data on the production and demand of each crop.

Participants in the conference decided to link the research center with local universities and to give the board authority over administrative matters.

It was also decided to construct a research and development center at Agricultural University Faisalabad with Chinese participation, at a cost of Rs 2 billion.

In addition, it was decided to hire 500 agricultural graduates, update the Punjab Seed Corporation and Punjab Agricultural Research Board’s organizational structures, provide a bill that forbids the use of agricultural land for residential purposes, and outfit the Agricultural Extension Wing with cutting-edge machinery.

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Khalid Maqbool calls the ‘non-local’ police that were placed in Karachi ‘injustice’.

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Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, the convener of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), described the imposition of “non-local” police and administration on the port city as an injustice for the people, as reported by The News on Friday.

During a labor wing of the party-organized iftar dinner in North Nazimabad, the politician claimed that Karachi had non-local police, calling this an injustice to the city’s residents.

Siddiqui questioned why the province’s capital city had a non-local police force, pointing out that other major centers in Sindh had their own citizens working in state and federal organizations.

We are going through numerous political phases as a country, and we are forced to use non-local administration and law enforcement. However, the MQM-P has once again reclaimed from the non-locals the mandate of the province’s metropolitan districts,” Siddiqui stated.

Siddiqui claimed that “ghair maqami,” or non-local, bandits were killing young people in Karachi through street violence, citing the city’s growing number of youth fatalities from such incidents.

“Young people in the city are being brutally murdered by out-of-town bandits during Ramadan,” the MQM-P leader claimed.

He went on to say that Sindh’s “racist” administration had been given free rein and that although his party had been silent throughout Ramadan, it will now speak out about the deaths of young people in the city at the hands of outside bandits.

Siddiqui emphasized that if it took going to the streets to defend women’s honor, the MQM-P would not think twice about making any sacrifice. The ad hoc organizing committee of the party was also present at the occasion.

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