The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet from office.
In the petition filed by PTI leaders Andleeb Abbas and Hassan Niazi, the party claimed that Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet had “violated the law”.
The petition alleged that the premier and his ministers had meetings with accused offenders and shared official secrets with the accused living abroad. The PTI was alluding to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, who Shehbaz Sharif and other senior PML-N leaders had met with in London in May.
As the hearing commenced, the court inquired under what authority the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) could disqualify the premier.
Andleeb Abbas’s lawyer requested to be given more time. However, Justice Shahid Waheed remarked that the lawyer had pushed for the case to be heard during vacations, so no more time could be given.
Subsequently, the court dismissed the plea after it was taken back by the petitioners.
ndleeb Abbas told media persons outside the LHC that their case was an open case. She said the federal government had met and discussed state affairs with proclaimed offenders.
The PTI leader claimed that whenever the party has tried to bring the case forward, they have faced obstacles.
“Now we are told that the petition does not have required documents attached. Before, we were told we did not have the required signatures,” she said.
Andleeb stated that these delays will not stop them from perusing the case because the sovereignty of Pakistan was at stake.
