ISLAMABAD – The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has scheduled the disqualification case of PTI Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Sohail Sultan for hearing on July 8.
A FCC two-member bench headed by Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi will hear the petition. The court has issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Attorney General for Pakistan and other respondents in the case.
Sohail Sultan has challenged the National Assembly speaker’s reference as well as the ECP’s jurisdiction to initiate proceedings against him. The case, he said, related to allegations that he was serving as a government employee before contesting the 2024 general elections.
According to the petition, the ECP initiated proceedings against the PTI legislator after receiving a reference claiming that he remained in government service prior to filing his nomination papers.
The Federal Constitutional Court had earlier restrained the ECP from taking further action against Sultan until the matter is decided.
Before entering electoral politics, Sultan served as an Assistant Advocate General in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His petition argues that the proceedings initiated against him are unlawful and seeks to have them declared without legal authority.
The petitioner has also referred to an earlier order of the Peshawar High Court, which granted him interim relief on October 17, 2024, and suspended the ECP’s proceedings based on the disputed reference.
The Federal Constitutional Court will now examine the legal questions surrounding the speaker’s reference and the ECP’s authority to proceed with the disqualification case at the hearing scheduled for July 8.
FCC holds lawyers’ strikes unconstitutional, hurdle in way to justice
