On Wednesday, the High Court of Peshawar (PHC) granted major help to senior officials from Pakistan Tehreek-E-insaf (PTI) by interrupting the disqualification procedure against the head of the opposition to the National Assembly Omar Ayub and the opposition chief at Senate Shibli Faraz. The PHC also granted a protection guarantee to Faraz and Zartaj Gul – both recently sentenced to 10 years in prison by an anti -terrorism court (ATC) in the context of riots of May 9, 2023. Announcing its verdict reserved on a petition against the disqualification of Faraz and Ayub by the electoral commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday, disqualification of the ECP. The two -page written ordinance said that the ECP had not provided petitioners with the possibility of being heard before disqualifying them. The court ordered that no other action was taken against Ayub and Faraz until the next hearing, which was scheduled for August 20. The order also observed that the petitioners had already visited the courts concerned and obtained a protective deposit, arguing that their convictions were not yet final. Opinions have also been issued to the ECP and other parties concerned. In a parallel development, the PHC granted a protection guarantee to Faraz and Gul until August 11, following their conviction by ATC in Faisalabad last week. The court ordered the two leaders to approach the high court concerned to file appeals and prevented the law forces from arresting them. The two leaders were among more than 100 PTI figures sentenced to prison for their alleged involvement in the riots of May 9, which broke out after the founder’s arrest and former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2023. Following these convictions, the ECP, on August 5, issued national notifications against nine Lawskakers, declaring a vacant Senate, five seats of the National Assembly, Punjable trors. The disqualified people included Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Zartaj Gul, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Junaid Afzal Sahi, Rai Hassan Nawaz, Rai Murtaza Iqbal, Rai Haider Ali and Ansar Iqbal. The PHC, however, has now put a temporary judgment to this disqualification process in response to the petitions filed by affected legislators.
The PHC remains the exceeding of PTI pillars
