ISLAMABAD (92 News) – The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday fixed the hearing of a plea against the appointment of Shehbaz Sharif as chairman of the Public Accountability Committee (PAC).
A two-member bench comprising
IHC Justice
Athar Minallah and Justice
Mohsin Akhtar Kayani will hear the plea pertaining to the appointment of
Shehbaz Sharif as the
PAC chairman on Thursday at 12pm.
IHC reserves verdict on maintainability of plea against Shehbaz
On Dec 31 last year, the
IHC reserved the verdict on maintainability of a plea against the appointment of Shehbaz Sharif as chairman of the Public Accountability Committee.
The petitioner’s counsel contended that a big problem has emerged in the parliamentary history of the country.
IHC Chief Justice
Athar Minallah remarked that Shehbaz Sharif is innocent until the case is proved against him in the court. “It is an internal matter of the parliament. The constitution calls for assuring supremacy of the constitution,” he remarked.”
He asked the petitioner to approach the elected representative of his constitution for its resolution in the parliament. “It is a political matter. We cannot ignore Article 69 of the Constitution,” he remarked.
Justice
Mohsin Akhtar Kayani remarked that the speaker has the authority to call any assembly member. He asked the petitioner how he is the affected person. He remarked that the case does not come under the court.
On Dec 29, a citizen has filed an application in the
IHC against the appointment of Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.
The petitioner contended that
Shehbaz’s appointment as the chairman of the committee is illegal and producing the
PML-N leader’s production orders was a violation of
NAB laws.
He added that a reference should be prepared regarding the violation of Section 31 of the NAB ordinance.
The petitioner prayed to court to nullify Shehbaz’s production orders. “The accountability court should be directed to take action against the PML-N president according to
Section 16(B) of the
NAB ordinance. Chief secretary Punjab should be instructed to arrest
Shehbaz and submit him to relevant authorities,” he added.
As long as there is a conflict of interest, Shehbaz should not be allowed to lead the PAC and all benefits of being a PAC chairman should be revoked, the petitions elaborated.
The petition has named Prime Minister Imran Khan’s secretary, the ministry of law, speaker National Assembly and Shehbaz as respondents. Shehbaz Sharif is in the custody of the NAB in a corruption case.
