LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday dismissed as withdrawn a petition filed by the Pakistan Te­­hreek-i-Insaf (PTI), seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Fo­­reign Minister Bilawal Bhut­to-Zardari and Interior Mini­ster Rana Sanaullah Khan.

Earlier, Justice Shahid Waheed asked the counsel of the petitioner under what law the respondents could be disqualified. The counsel sought time to prepare his arguments, but the judge turned down the request of the counsel, reminding him that he first got the petition fixed in sum­mer vacations and was now seeking time for arguments.

At this, the counsel sought permission to withdraw the petition, which the judge allowed and dismissed the petition as withdrawn.

The petition was jointly filed by PTI’s former MNA Andleeb Abbas and Advo­c­a­­te Hassaan Khan Niazi plea­ding that the prime minister misused his powers and violated the Constitution by al­­lowing his son Suleman and nephew Hussain Nawaz, both proclaimed offenders, to meet the Saudi crown prince during an official visit.

The petitioners said the PM took his cabinet me­­m­b­ers to London to meet former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former finance minister Ishaq Dar, both proclaimed offenders before the courts of the country. They submitted that the PM and his cabinet members violated the Official Secret Act, 1923.

They asked the court to disqualify the respondents and also direct the police to initiate criminal proceedings against the prime minister and his cabinet members.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2022