IHC reserves judgment against NA-154 polls
ISLAMABAD, (MILLAT ONLINE):The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Wednesday reserved it judgment
regarding maintainability of a petition seeking stay against the by-elections
in NA-154 Lodhran after the de-seat of PTI leader Jahangir Tareen.
Justice Mohsin Akhter Kiyani of IHC heard the case filed by
a citizen Shahid Orakzai against the by-polls in NA-154.
During the course of proceeding, the petitioner adopted the
stance that the by-polls could be conducted under article 224 of the
Constitution during last four month of an assembly’s term.
He argued that the winning candidate of NA-120 had not taken
oath even after passing of 100 days of by-elections. The NA-120 elections
caused wastage of public money, he contended.
He said that one vacant seat of the National Assembly during
the current scenario would not affect the system. The disqualified member
Jahangir Tareen has the right to file review petition, he said, adding that if
Tareen get restored, the by-polls exercise would go waste.
The petitioner said the winning candidate of NA-154 would not
be able to take oath as there would be a gap of 120 days between the two sessions
of the lower house of the Parliament.
He requested the court to issue directives to Election
Commission of Pakistan (EC)) to stay the NA-154 by-polls.
After hearing the arguments, the bench reserved its judgment
regarding the maintainability of the case.