By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the federal government, Sadiq Sanjrani, the Senate Secretariat and others over an intra court appeal against the Senate chairman election.
Senator Yousaf Raza Gillani has filed an appeal in the high court against the decision of a single bench over the Senate chairman election.
“How will you avoid Article 69,” Justice Aamir Farooq questioned Gillani’s counsel Farooq H Naek.
“I want to argue over Article 10 before Article 69,” Naek said. “The matter not related to the assembly’s proceedings but with the election of the chairman Senate,” the counsel argued. “We didn’t challenge the assembly’s proceedings but the election of the Senate chairman,” Naek further said.
“A presiding officer could not vote in the election but here he opted to vote,” Farooq Naek said. “When rejection of seven votes questioned, the presiding officer said, take the matter to the court,” Gillani’s counsel said. “I was the polling agent of Yousaf Raza Gillani in the Senate chairman election,” Naek told the bench.
The court adjourned further hearing of the case until April 27. Gillani’s appeal pleads the court to declare single bench’s decision as null and void. A single bench of the high court had dismissed an early petition by former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani challenging the results of the Senate chairman election, mentioning that proceedings of the upper house of parliament were immune from the interference of the high court.
