ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad High Court on Thursday barred the Election Commission of Pakistan from taking action against PTI supremo Imran Khan pertaining to code of conduct violation case.
The directives were issued after a hearing of the case in IHC by Justice Amir Farooq. PTI chief Imran Khan had on Tuesday moved the court through his counsel Babar Awan
The counsel said the petitioner, being the PTI chairman, heads different movements of by-elections and other poll-related activities throughout the country, which is a right guaranteed under Article 16 of the Constitution.
During the court proceeding, PTI lawyer told the court that the opposition political parties were being barred from holding rallies and public gathering by design while pleading the bench to nullify the notifications issued by the ECP calling them illegal and with malicious intent.
The court heard the arguments and issued a stay order in the case and suspended three notifications of the ECP.
The Islamabad High Court also summoned Attorney General of Pakistan for assistance and remarked that the case faced significant constitutional questions.
It is worth mentioning here that the ECP on April 24 in a hearing, reserved a judgment of a notice against PTI Chief Imran Khan and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Hamza Shehbaz Sharif over violation of its’s code of conduct during the by-election to National Assembly seat NA-63 Jhelum last year.
The ECP announced that it would declare the judgment on May 8 while granting time to PTI for submission of its response after the party spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry had sought time.
The case has been adjourned till May 15.
