LAHORE, Oct 24: Chief Justice Iftikhar Husain Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court issued on Thursday notices to the Chief Election Commissioner and all the candidates who contested the election of four constituencies in which the PML-Q won the general elections in the city.

The writ petitions, filed by MNA-elect from NA-121 Humayun Akhtar and the PML-Q, were referred to the chief justice on Wednesday by Justice Raja Muhammad Sabir for fixing before an appropriate bench after hearing counsel S.M. Zafar.

Justice Sabir had issued a stay order against the recounting of the total ballots cast in NA-125 during the Oct 10 elections on an application filed by Akram Zaki of the PML-N. The chief justice extended the stay order.

Interpretation of Section 103 AA of the Representation of Peoples Act 1976, Section 6 of the Chief Executive’s Order No 1 of 2002 and Article 225 of the 1973 Constitution had also been in the writ petitions, filed by the PML-Q and Humayun Akhtar.

DISMISSED: The chief justice dismissed the Pakistan Lawyers Forum counsel A.K. Dogar’s application for fixing the amended petition, challenging the validity of the Legal Framework Order 2002, before a full bench.

The chief justice observed that the application had been moved by the counsel after he had argued the case for a long time. The counsel submitted that both the Bar and the politicians were afraid of approaching the courts because they did not get the relief in cases against the government.

Meanwhile, the PLF counsel filed a petition for the suspension of the operation of LFO-2002 to enable the newly-elected members of parliament to discharge their duties without undue pressure and interference.

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