ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has sought assistance from the attorney general in a matter related to Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani’s eligibility to hold the office of acting president.

The court on Thursday asked Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali to assist the court in the case in the next hearing.

On May 15, Advocate Afzal Khan Shinwari had filed a petition stating that Mr Sanjrani could not become acting president because he did not meet the requirements set by the Constitution.

According to Article 49 of the Constitution, the Senate chairman becomes acting president in the absence of the head of state. However, Article 41 states that the individual needs to be more than 45 years of age.

The petition pointed out that Mr Sanjrani was born in 1978 and being 40 years old did not meet the basic requirement to hold the office even in acting capacity.

He further stated that on May 15 President Mamnoon Hussain departed to perform Umrah and in his absence Mr Sanjrani would take the seat as acting president until his return.

Mr Shinwari argued that the Senate secretariat committed an illegality in its appointment of Mr Sanjrani as the Senate’s chairman. He alleged that the office of the president had been “illegally usurped” and demanded that the May 14 notification issued by the Senate secretariat be termed “unconstitutional”.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2018