Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) member of the National Assembly (MNA) Abdul Shakur Shad on Thursday challenged the acceptance of his resignation in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) by the speaker, saying he had not given any resignation. In his petition, he said that the 123 PTI MNAs were made to sign the resignation letter issued by the party head office. Neither my name was written on it nor was the date mentioned, he said, adding, Therefore, I pray to the court to declare the notification of my seat falling vacant null and void and also suspend schedule of the election to be held on my seat.  Shad said that the party high command told the MNAs that the decision to resign from the NA en masse had been taken to ensure discipline in the party ranks.

In fact, the acceptance of these resignations also go against the court orders, he argued. Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had on July 28, 2022 accepted the resignations of 11 Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf members of the National Assembly. After consultations with coalition partners, the NA speaker accepted the resignations of Shireen Mazari, Ali Muhammad Khan, Fazl Muhammad Khan, Shaukat Khan, Fakhar Zaman Khan, Farrukh Habib, Ijaz Shah, Akram Cheema, Jamil Ahmad Khan, Shandana Gulzar and Abdul Shakoor Shaad. However, the list did not include the name of PTI chairman Imran Khan and vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP