Gillani challenges Senate Chairman election in Supreme Court

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has challenged the election of Sadiq Sanjrani as Senate chairman in the Supreme Court, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Gillni has filed appeal in the apex court against the decision of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking the court to declare the high court’s verdict as void.

“The decision of the single and division bench of the IHC has been against the law and the facts of the matter,” Gillani pleaded in his appeal to the supreme court.

“The high court’s verdict is against the parameters fixed by the supreme court in its decision over the case pertaining to the ruling of the deputy speaker,” according to the appeal.

“Yousaf Raza Gillani bagged maximum votes in the March 2021 election of the Senate Chairman and his seven votes were rejected wrongfully,” according to the plea.

“The presiding officer rejected his seven votes with malicious intent,” he pleaded.

A division bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed a petition filed by PPP senator Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani in April this year.

The division bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri had reserved the judgement on December 22, 2021.

Gillani, a former prime minister of Pakistan, in his petition sought the court to abrogate the presiding officer’s decision of rejecting seven votes polled in favour of him in the Senate chairman’s election.

Initially, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah had dismissed the petition filed by Mr Gilani against the result of the election of the Senate chairman, noting that proceedings of the upper house of parliament were immune from the interference of the high court.

PPP senior leader Yousaf Raza Gillani had pleaded the court to declare the rejection of seven votes polled in favour of the petitioner by the presiding officer as illegal and suspend the notification dated March 13 last year regarding the re-election of Sadiq Sanjrani as Senate chairman and restrain him from carrying out his duties in this capacity until this petition is decided.