LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday referred a petition of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja to a larger bench that is already hearing his similar plea challenging the establishment of election tribunals comprising retired judges.

“Office is directed to place this matter before full bench of this court after soliciting necessary instructions from honourable chief justice,” Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad said in his order announced about the other day’s hearing.

Rejecting a request of the petitioner to immediately restrain the election tribunal from working, the judge observed, “As this court is not going to entertain the matter any further, hence, no interim relief is being granted.”

During the hearing on Monday, Additional Attorney General Mirza Nasar Ahmad had told the court that Mr Raja also challenged the appointment of retired judges in a petition filed last year, that was pending before a full bench.

The law officer asked the court to also refer the said petition to the full bench for further hearing.

Barrister Sameer Khosa, the counsel for the petitioner, had asked the court to issue a stay order if the petition was to be referred to the full bench.

He argued that the impugned election tribunal, led by former judge Rana Zahid Mahmood, was not lawfully established as the presiding officer was not a former judge of the high court.

In his petition, Mr Raja had contended that the tribunal member was removed from the office of the LHC judge in the light of a 2009 Supreme Court judgement against the appointments of judges made during the tenure of the PCO chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar. Therefore, he said, the respondent was not qualified to be a member of an election tribunal.

He also argued that forming election tribunals comprising both serving and retired judges of the high court undermines judicial independence.

He asked the court to restrain the respondent tribunal comprising retired judge Rana Zahid Mahmood from hearing the election petitions regarding NA-128, Lahore.

The petitioner further requested the court to set aside the impugned amendment to the Election Act 2017, allowing the appointment of retired judges as election tribunals.

Raja had contested the Feb 8 general election as a PTI-backed candidate from the National Assembly constituency, NA-128, Lahore. However, his opponent Aun Chaudhry of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) won the contest. Aun bagged 172,576 votes against 159,024 of Raja.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2024