24 February 2004	Tuesday	03 Muharram 1425

ISLAMABAD, Feb 23: The Supreme Court refused on Monday to restrain Haroon Akhtar Khan from taking oath as MPA, saying the constituency could not be left unrepresented.

The apex court, however, ordered that the appeal of Amjad Aziz, who had been disqualified for possessing a bogus BSc degree, would be heard at an early date. No specific date was fixed for the hearing.

Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and Justice Rana Bhagwandas, after hearing Raja Mohammad Anwar and Wasim Sajjad, decided that Mr Khan could not be restrained from taking oath as an MPA.

An Election Tribunal of the Lahore High Court had declared Mr Khan winner in place of Mr Aziz, PML-N MPA. The Election Commission notified him as MPA. The court accepted the arguments of Mr Sajjad that the constituency could not be kept unrepresented.

Advocate Raja Anwar and Advocate Raja Shafqat Abbasi, MPA, argued that during the pendency of the case in the Supreme Court, Mr Khan should be restrained from taking oath.