LHC suspends NA-175 by-election schedule on Jamshed Dasti's petition

LAHORE (Muhammad Ashfaq) – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday suspended the schedule for the by-election in NA-175 on the petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Jamshed Dasti.

The court also issued a notice to the Attorney General for assistance.

A three-member full bench headed by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum heard the petition filed by PTI leader Jamshed Dasti against his disqualification.

The chief justice asked, "Counsel, please tell when you signed the power of attorney. Tell the truth; the story is quite interesting." Jamshed Dasti's lawyer responded, "I signed the power of attorney with a delay."

The chief justice said, "I have read the entire petition, the Election Commission's decision—everything."

Advocate Ishtiaq Chaudhry argued that a reference was sent to the Election Commission, which then issued a notice. He cited a Supreme Court ruling that states that the Election Commission cannot disqualify anyone on its own without a judicial declaration. In this case, the Election Commission disqualified the petitioner without any such declaration.

Subsequently, the court suspended the by-election schedule in NA-175 at the request of Jamshed Dasti and halted the by-poll process. It also suspended the Election Commission's action against the PTI leader and issued a notice to the Attorney General for assistance.

Read also: ECP disqualifies Jamshed Dasti over fake degrees

It is noteworthy that on July 15, the Election Commission declared Jamshed Dasti's academic degrees as fake and disqualified him from being a member of the National Assembly.

The Speaker of the National Assembly had sent a reference against Dasti to the Election Commission, which approved two petitions for his disqualification.

Speaking to the media, PTI leader Jamshed Dasti said, "God has granted me respect. My biggest crime is that I stand with the PTI founder. The situation is very difficult for us, and the Election Commission has been unfair to me."

He added, "I have full faith in the courts to provide justice, and they have done so today."

Jamshed Dasti stated that he had been elected Member of the National Assembly five times, and there was no truth in the claims against him.

"The Speaker should have called and heard me out, but I was neither called nor heard. False propaganda was only spread against me on social media," he said.