ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) said on Friday that the collective resignation of PTI became suspicious after a lawmaker from the party said he did not resign from the National Assembly seat.
PTI MNA Abdul Shakoor Shad challenged his resignation at IHC, saying he expressed solidarity with the 123 MNAs who left their seats, but he never resigned.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rescinded the notification of 11 MNAs for PTI, including Shad, after former deputy speaker Qasim Suri issued a letter of resignation to 123 PTI lawmakers.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard Shad’s case. The judge directed him to stay on as a legislator and rescinded the ECP notice that notified him.
Two days after PTI chairman Imran Khan was ousted as prime minister – through a no-confidence motion put forward by the opposition parties at the time – all PTI MNAs resigned en masse on April 11.
Following Asad Qaiser’s resignation as Speaker, Suri, who was carrying out his duties as Acting NA Speaker, accepted all resignations on April 15.
However, once Raja Pervez Ashraf was appointed spokesman, he decided to verify all MNA resignations through separate interviews.
The decision comes after reports that several resignations from lawmakers were typed rather than handwritten — a violation of congressional rules.
