IHC bins Talpur's plea against ECP disqualification case

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday threw out a petition moved by former president Asif Ali Zardari’s sister and PPP MPA Faryal Talpur.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah dismissed the petition that sought to bar the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from hearing a plea seeking her disqualification as member of the Sindh Assembly. The court directed the ECP to proceed with the case.

On February 8, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected a plea of Faryal Talpur seeking to quash the disqualification case against her. A five-member bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, announced the verdict.

Subsequently, the PPP leader approached the high court challenging the ECP decision. At a previous hearing, Farooq H Naek, the petitioner’s counsel, pleaded with the court to nullify the ECP order issued on February 8, which, he argued, violates the verdicts of the Supreme Court (SC) and Article 10 of the Constitution.

Two Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Arsalan Taj and Rabia Azfar had moved a petition in the ECP seeking disqualification of Ms Talpur as member of the provincial assembly over allegedly concealing her assets.

They stated the PPP leader should be disqualified under Article 62 of the Constitution as she failed to declare details of her assets before the ECP, which means she is no longer ‘Sadiq and Ameen’.

Faryal Talpur owned properties in Larkana and Shahdadkot, the petitioner stated, adding Talpur had been nominated in a case pertaining to billions of rupees corruption through fake bank accounts.