ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday nullified the objections of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the Milli Muslim League (MML) and accepted its plea for registration as a political party.
The MML had filed a writ petition in the IHC against ECP’s refusal to register it as a political entity.
Justice Aamir Farooq on Thursday invalidated the ECP’s order of ban on the MML and instructed the commission to register the entity as a political party.
MML President Saifullah Khalid, Central Secretary Information Tabish Qayyum and others were present in the court on the occasion. During the last hearing, MML lawyers Raja Rizwan Abbasi and Sohail Warraich had presented their arguments. The court, after hearing both the parties, had reserved the verdict which was announced on Thursday.
Earlier, in response to interior ministry’s letter to the ECP on September 26, 2017, that the MML should not be registered as a political party, the group’s lawyer had asserted that there was no FIR registered against any of the party member and, therefore, the objections of the interior ministry were unjustified.
The IHC verdict has paved the way for the entity to participate in the upcoming general election. Last year, MML-backed Yaqoob Sheikh had bagged more than 6,000 votes in NA-120 by-elections.
Published in Daily Times, March 9th 2018.
