July 9, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 8,1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 8: The Supreme Court on Tuesday restored the membership of Mufti Ibrar Sultan, a Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal MNA from Kohat, and ordered its offices to fix his appeal for final hearing in mid-September.

In an interim order passed on the appeal, Chief Justice Shaikh Riaz Ahmad suspended the operation of the election tribunal’s decision which had declared Mufti Ibrar’s election as null and void.

The chief justice, who heard the appeal in his chambers, also suspended the operation of the Election Commission’s notification that had ordered bye-election in the Kohat constituency of NA-14.

After hearing Raja Ibrahim Satti, counsel for the appellant, the CJ decided to suspend the election tribunal’s decision.

The CJ ordered that Mufti Ibrar’s appeal would be heard with a constitutional petition filed by a private lawyer, Dr Aslam Khaki, challenging the qualification of MMA’s 68 legislators.

Last week, the Peshawar High Court’s election tribunal had ordered on the petition of Syed Iftikhar Hussain Gillani, who was a rival candidate in the election for NA-14, that the sanad of the MMA candidate was not equivalent to BA, as required under Article 8A of the Conduct of General Election Order, 2002.

Mufti Ibrar contended that the University Grants Commission had recognized the Sanad Shahadatul Ilmiya fil Uloom ul Arabia wal Islamia granted by Wafaq Tanzeemul Madaris as equivalent to MA. The decision, he said, was taken in 1982 and that nobody had challenged it since.

The MMA leadership has taken the stand that it will not approach the Supreme Court, saying the apex court’s constitutional position is doubtful as the judges are working under the Provisional Constitutional Order.

MMA leader Maulana Ghafoor Haideri was present in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Asked why the MMA had changed its stance and he had come to the court, he said Mufti Ibrar’s case was different from others, and he was allowed by the MMA to approach the apex court, if he desired so.

He said the MMA was still of the view that it would not appear before the Supreme Court which would hear the case in which the qualification of its 68 legislators had been called in question.