ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday suspended the membership of the former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as Senator.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML) ailing leader Ishaq Dar was re-elected as the member of the Senater on March 3, 2018.
Supreme Court suspends Ishaq Dar’s Senate membership; Court will take up the matter after Eid.
A four-member bench headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar heard a petition against the election of Dar as member of the Upper House of Parliament. pic.twitter.com/S2MtfV0jSQ
— PTV World (@WorldPTV) May 8, 2018
A four-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar suspended Ishaq Dar’s Senate membership.
The Court observed that till the time Ishaq Dar returns to the Country, his Senate membership will remain suspended.
The Supreme Court also rejected Ishaq Dar’s medical certificate submitted by his Counsel. Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked that whenever someone suffers from illness, a medical certificate is submitted on his/her behalf.
The Chief Justice said that he is going abroad for two weeks. Eventually, the Court adjourned hearing of the case till Eid-ul-Fitr.
On March 9, a plea was filed by Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Nawazish Pirzad in the Supreme Court asking it to suspend the judgement of the Lahore High Court (LHC) which had allowed Ishaq Dar to contest the election for Senate.
Prior to that, an appellate election tribunal of the LHC on February 17 granted Ishaq Dar permission to contest the Senate election, setting aside an order of the Returning Officer (RO) who had rejected his nomination papers.
The petitioner argued that an absconder – Ishaq Dar as he was declared by the Accountability Court on December 11, 2017 – cannot contest elections.
