The Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended on Wednesday the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order denotifying Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers Asad Umar, Ali Nawaz Awan and Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz. National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf had accepted the resignations of the PTI lawmakers who resigned en masse after PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s ouster as the prime minister last year. The speaker had sent the notice denotifying the MNAs to the electoral body, however, the three PTI leaders filed a petition challenging the ECP’s notification.
The case was heard by the IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq. Lawyer Ali Zafar represented the three PTI leaders – Umar, Awan and Nawaz – in the court. The court restricted the ECP from conducting by-elections in Islamabad and also suspended Speaker Ashraf’s notification accepting the resignations of the party lawmakers.
