ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court accepted on Monday around a dozen petitionschallenging Nawaz Sharif’s appointment as the Pakistan Muslim League-Npresident and issued notices to the respondents.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar took up the 13petitions against Nawaz’s party presidency, including those by PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, Awami Muslim League chief SheikhRashid, MNA Jamshaid Dasti, National Party and the Pakistan Peoples Party(PPP).
The petitions, challenging specific clauses of the recently passedElections Act 2017, state that Nawaz’s appointment as party president is inviolation of Clause 5 of the Political Parties Order 2002 and Article 17 ofthe Constitution.
As the hearing went under way, the chief justice remarked that thepetitions are political in nature.He also observed that Parliament is the supreme body of lawmaking in thecountry, adding that the court will strictly move according to the law.
The chief justice inquired from the counsel of one of the petitionersaccording to which law can Parliament’s legislation be nullified.Notices will only be served when you make a case for them, Chief JusticeNisar responded to Rasheed’s counsel Farogh Naseem’s plea to issue noticesin the case.
“Tell us how many times has the Supreme Court nullified laws made byParliament,” he asked the counsel.The counsel for the National Party asked for time to prepare for the case,to which the chief justice disagreed and observed that the hearing will beheld according to schedule later today.
“Don’t take the courts easy. The case will not be adjourned,” the courtasserted.
After Naseem concluded his arguments, the PPP’s counsel Latif Khosapresented his client’s case.Concluding the hearing, the bench accepted the petitions and issued noticesto the respondents, including Nawaz and the Election Commission ofPakistan, and sought their responses.
The hearing was then adjourned until January 23.