GUJRAT, May 1: Eight office-bearers, including president, of the sealed local Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday filed a writ petition in the Lahore High Court against the GCCI’s sealing.

The petitioners are GCCI President Chaudhry Iftikhar Ahmad, Vice-President Haji Muhammad Shafi Javed, Mirza Mushtaq Ahmad, Seth Nadeem Ashraf, Muhammad Imtiaz Ahmad, Sajid Husain, Aftab Ahmad and Haji Muhammad Shafi Javed. (They have moved court on behalf of the Foam Traders Group).

Among the respondents are several government functionaries, including the commerce secretary, the trade organizations director and the Gujrat DCO, and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Punjab government.

According to the petition, during elections for the GCCI executive committee for 2000-01 held on Sept 13, 2000, a complaint was made that the elections for the seats reserved for the Trade Groups were illegal.

The DTO rejected the complaint issuing an order on Nov 11, 2000, and held that the elections for the foregoing seat were legal. The order was upheld by the commerce secretary on April 14, 2001, in response to an appeal.