——- Allows one day to hire lawyer
By Asim Hussain
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Thursday rejected MNA Sohail Sultan’s plea seeking additional time in the disqualification reference against him while granting him one day to engage a lawyer.
A three-member bench of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), headed by the Chief Election Commissioner, heard the disqualification case against MNA Sohail Sultan from Swat’s NA-4.
Sultan sought two weeks to hire a lawyer, but the bench allowed only one day, with the Chief Election Commissioner noting the proceedings had already been delayed due to a High Court stay order.
The commission adjourned the proceedings until Friday (Jan 9).
It may be recalled that MNA Sohail Sultan had challenged before the High Court the reference forwarded by the Speaker to the Election Commission along with the Commission’s notices.
The reference, filed by Swat resident Nasrullah Khan, accuses Sultan of making false declarations about his government service.
It contends that he continued to serve as Deputy Attorney General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prior to the elections, whereas government employees are barred from contesting polls for two years after leaving service.
Meanwhile, a three-member bench of the Election Commission, headed by the Chief Election Commissioner, reserved judgment in a case concerning alleged violations of the code of conduct by Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and MNA Bilal Badr from NA-96, Faisalabad.
During proceedings, counsel for Talal Chaudhry submitted that his client had already tendered an unconditional apology.
He further argued that the District Monitoring Officer had issued a warning on November 20, cautioning against any breach of the code of conduct, and on the same day imposed a fine of Rs 50,000.
The counsel contended that the District Monitoring Officer had acted beyond the law and maintained that Talal Chaudhry had not breached the code of conduct.
However, officials of the Election Commission asserted that the Commission holds full authority to proceed against violations of the code.
