ISLAMABAD: Former president Asif Ali Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur Monday filed an intra court appeal (ICA) before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) challenging single bench’s verdict to dismiss her petition to quash disqualification case against her in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Talpur filed the ICA through her counsel, Farooq H Naek and prayed before the court to set aside the single bench’s judgment and restore her main petition.

A single bench of the IHC Chief Justice, Athar Minallah, had dismissed Faryal Talpur’s petition and stated that no interference is required with the ECP order dated 08-02-2021. In her ICA, Talpur adopted that the IHC single bench order dated June 8 is bad in law as well as on facts. She added that this order is in complete ignorance of judgments of the superior courts and it is in complete negation of the Civil Procedure Code.

She continued that the IHC single bench verdict was passed without considering the fact that the ECP order dated February 3, 2020 was passed without having notice served at the appellant as required by the law and this is against the principles of natural justice. The PPP leader contended that the IHC bench completely ignored that a case once dismissed under Civil Procedure Code, 1908 cannot be restored without mandatory notice to the parties, which in this case was not given to the appellant.

She contended that the ECP had opened the disqualification case against her on the applications of MPAs Arsalan Taj and Rabia Azfar. The ECP had already dismissed this case due to non-pursuance by the complainants, she added. The petitioner prayed before the court to declare the ECP decision dated February 8, as null and void, and stopped its proceedings against his client’s disqualification. The two PTI leaders, Arsalan Taj and Rabia Azfar had moved the petition in the ECP seeking disqualification of Talpur as member of the provincial assembly over allegedly concealing her assets. They stated that the Pakistan Peoples Party leader should be disqualified under Article 62 of the Constitution as she failed to declare details of her assets before the ECP, which means she is no longer “Sadiq and Ameen”.

Faryal Talpur owned properties in Larkana and Shahdadkot, the petitioner stated. They pleaded that she should be disqualified as a member of the Sindh Assembly.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021