IHC dismisses PTI plea against acceptance of 11 MNAs' resignations.

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday dismissed a petition of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the acceptance of resignations of its 11 Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) by the NA speaker.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah, who heard the case, also declared the notification issued by the then deputy speaker Qasim Suri with regard to the acceptance of PTI MNAs' resignations as illegal.

The acting NA speaker NA had committed an illegal act and also violated the court's decision, he added.

Rejecting the PTI's request to form a larger bench on the matter, CJ Minallah observed that the court could not interfere into the affairs of parliament.

The (incumbent) NA speaker had satisfied himself over the resignations of 11 members of PTI before approving the same and the had no authority to examine the standard of his (speaker's) satisfaction, he noted.

Chief Justice Minallah questioned whether it was not the responsibility of MNAs to perform their duties of representing the public until their resignations were approved. "There is a need to change our thinking to respect the parliament," he said.

The court suggested the PTI MNAs to appear before the NA speaker in person to verify their resignations.

The chief justice asked whether the acting NA speaker (Qasim Suri) had verified the resignations by summoning members individually.

He observed that the IHC court had given a verdict in 2015 regarding the method of acceptance of (legislators') resignations and instructed the PTI lawyer to read it.

As per the constitution, it was the...