Peshawar: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday adjourned until October 20 the hearing of a petition challenging the disqualification of MNA Abdul Latif, elected from NA-1 Chitral, giving his counsel a final opportunity to appear and warning that the interim stay order would be withdrawn if the lawyer failed to attend the next hearing.
A three-member larger bench headed by Justice Ijaz Anwar heard the case. During the proceedings, the petitioner’s junior counsel requested an adjournment, informing the court that the senior lawyer was appearing before the Islamabad High Court.
The bench expressed displeasure over the senior counsel’s absence, observing that the larger bench had been constituted specifically to hear such cases and that other proceedings had also been affected by its formation.
The court noted that the petition involved important legal questions and that it needed to hear the petitioner’s counsel before deciding the matter.
During the hearing, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials informed the court that Abdul Latif had been disqualified following his conviction by an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad.
Abdul Latif has challenged the ECP’s disqualification decision before the PHC, and the petition is still pending adjudication.
The ECP’s representative told the court that the National Assembly seat for Chitral had remained vacant for nearly a year and that an election could not be held because of the interim stay order.
The commission’s counsel requested the court to vacate the stay so that the electoral process could proceed.
The PHC granted the petitioner’s counsel a final opportunity to appear on the next date of hearing and warned that failure to do so could result in the withdrawal of the interim relief.
The court fixed October 20 for further proceedings.