ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday dismissed a petition seeking disqualification of MNA Ayesha Gulalai as a parliamentarian.
A single-judge bench of the IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq ruled that the petition filed by Kulsoom Khaliq advocate was not maintainable. In her arguments, the petitioner contended that Ayesha Gulalai, while levelling baseless allegations of harassment against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan without presenting any evidence, had breached the public trust on the floor of the National Assembly. Besides, she contended that Gulalai had lied about initiating legal proceedings against Imran Khan. She requested the court to disqualify Gulalai for violating certain provisions of Representation of People Act, 1976. Earlier, Gulalai had accused the PTI chief of sending lewd text messages to party’s women workers, a claim that Imran Khan denies. The PTI chief had also written a letter to the National Assembly speaker seeking termination of Gulalai’s membership as a parliamentarian. The letter was also submitted with the Election Commission of Pakistan. In the letter, the PTI chief had requested the National Assembly speaker and the Chief Election Commissioner Justice (r) Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan to take action under the Article 63-A (2) of the constitution against Gulalai, an MNA from South Waziristan elected on a reserved seat for women.
Published in Daily Times, September 23rd 2017.
