ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday reserved judgement on a petition filed by estranged PPP leader Naheed Khan in which she has sought the party’s title for her party.

The petition was heard by a two-member bench consisting of Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.

Estranged PPP leaders including Naheed Khan and Safdar Abbasi had challenged the results of the party’s March 2013 intra party elections before the ECP.

After the petition was dismissed by the ECP, Ms Khan had challenged the results before the IHC in May 2013.

The PPP General Secretary Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari informed the court that the party had recently conducted intra-party elections and was in the process of submitting details to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Having remained a close associate of slain PPP leader Benazir Bhutto throughout her political career, Naheed Khan claimed to be the president of PPP Workers and got registered with the ECP under the Political Parties’ Order 2002.

Ms Khan’s petition was based on a reply submitted by the PPP’s counsel in Feb 2013 in the dual offices case of former President Asif Ali Zardari.

She contended that the reply had declared the PPP was not a political party but a non-governmental organisation. The petition claimed that the party had become unpopular under Mr Zardari’s leadership.

In an earlier hearing, the then PPP Secretary General Sardar Latif Khan Khosa said after forming of PPP Workers, there was no reason for Ms Khan and her husband to contest for the PPP’s name.

Published in Dawn January 24th, 2017