LHC strikes down ECP’s order to denotify 43 PTI lawmakers

LAHORE – The Lahore High Court on Wednesday suspended the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) order pertaining to the de-notification of 43 PTI lawmakers.

The development comes a week after 43 members of the National Assembly (MNAs) of the former ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf moved to court to set aside notifications regarding the acceptance of resignations by the NA speaker and seats being declared vacant by the electoral watchdog.

Justice Shahid Karim of LHC pronounced the verdict on the petition, restricting the commission from holding by-elections in the constituencies until further orders.

The court issued notices to the federal government, NA Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and the Election Commission of Pakistan.

PTI leader Riaz Fatyana reportedly appeared before the court today while his counsel raised questions about the procedure for accepting resignations. Barrister Ali Zafar maintained that speaker did not conduct an inquiry under the Constitution before accepting the resignations, and maintained that lawmakers had not appeared before the speaker to have their resignations accepted.

Last month, NA speaker Ashraf accepted the resignations of PTI lawmakers a day after lawmakers announced the withdrawal of their resignations.