ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court’s Register on Thursday returned a petition seeking disqualification of President Arif Alvi, raising objections that under Article 248 the President cannot be made a party.
The SC’s Registrar Office objected that the president could not be made party under Article 248 of the Constitution, which states that the president, a governor, the prime minister, a federal minister, a minister of State, the chief minister, and a provincial minister shall not be answerable to any court for the exercise of powers and performance of functions of their respective offices.
The registrar further objected to the petition, filed by a citizen named Imtiaz that he did not mention the question of public interest and fundamental rights mentioned in the plea.
The registrar of the apex court objected that the name of the lawyer who wrote the petition has not been disclosed, nor the plaintiff contacted the relevant forum while he did not give reasons for not contacting.
“The points raised regarding the use of Article 184/3 are not satisfactory,” the registrar objected.
Moreover, it added that the points raised regarding the use of Article 184(3) of the Constitution were not satisfactory. The article maintains that for the court to have original jurisdiction on an issue, it first needs to be of public importance. Secondly, that issue must involve a violation of fundamental rights that are enshrined within the first chapter of the second part of the Pakistani Constitution.
The petitioner did not contact any other relevant forum and did not provide reasoning for failing to do so. The office added that the name of the lawyer who drafted the petition was also not disclosed.
Earlier, the SC dismissed a petition filed seeking the disqualification of President Alvi.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the case. The petition, filed by one Zahoor Mehdi, had requested that the apex court to reject the nomination papers of President Alvi.
According to the petitioner, the scrutiny of the president’s nomination papers was not correct and Mehdi presented six objections regarding Alvi’s nomination papers.
He added that at the time of the presidential election, Alvi was an “under-trial accused” and was not eligible for the presidency.
