Petition seeking Murad's disqualification: SHC seeks replies from ECP, CM

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday sought replies from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the chief minister of Sindh in a petition seeking latter's disqualification. A division bench of the SHC, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, expressed outrage over the ECP for not submitting its response to the notice issued in the lifetime disqualification case against Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazar remarked that no one has appeared in the hearing to represent the ECP. He ordered the ECP and the chief minister to submit their replies in the next hearing.

During the hearing, Additional Advocate-General Shehryar Mehar submitted copies of rulings made by the high court and the Supreme Court (SC).

He told the court that the top court had given a clean chit to Murad Ali Shah over surrendering the dual-nationality case.

The nomination papers of Murad Ali Shah had also been challenged in the court before the commencement of the election. However, the election tribunal rejected the pleas against him, he added.

The petition against the Sindh chief minister stated that Shah had been disqualified by the Supreme Court (SC) on May 2, 2013, but he contested by-election in 2014 from Jamshoro.

The petitioner appealed to the high court to disqualify Murad Ali Shah for lifetime.

Later, the SHC judge adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period and ordered Sindh chief minister and the ECP to submit their responses.

Meanwhile, the SHC reserved its judgment in the bail plea of Roshan Ali Sheikh and eight others in NAB reference against them over alleged corruption in Sindh Tourism Development.

The court reserved its judgment after hearing comments from both the sides.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020