ISLAMABAD   -  The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing in a petition seeking to quash disqualification case against former president Asif Ali Zardari’s sister Faryal Talpur in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). 

A single bench of the IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah conducted hearing of the petition filed by Faryal Talpur and deferred the proceedings till April 28 due to non-availability of her lawyer Farooq H Naek 

Previously, the IHC bench had served notices to the respondents in the petition seeking to quash disqualification case against Faryal Talpur in the ECP. 

The petitioner’s lawyer contended that the ECP had opened the disqualification case against Faryal Talpur on the applications of two PTI MPAs Arslan Taj and Rabia Azfar. The ECP had already dismissed the case due to non pursuance by the complainants, he added. The petition prayed to the court to declare the ECP decision dated February 8, as null and void, and stop its proceedings against his client’s disqualification. 

The petitioner said that the political opponents were fabricating baseless cases against her as she was the sister of former president. She said that the two MPAs had moved applications to Sindh Assembly speaker which was dismissed later. The ECP, she added, had no authority to hear the case against the speaker’s decision.  

However, the court served notices to the respondents and sought their comments in the matter. The two PTI leaders Arsalan Taj and Rabia Azfar had moved the petition in the ECP seeking disqualification of Talpur as member of the provincial assembly over allegedly concealing her assets. They said that Pakistan People’s Party leader should be disqualified under Article 62 of the Constitution as she failed to declare details of her assets before the ECP, which meant she was no longer ‘Sadiq and Ameen’. 

Faryal Talpur owned properties in Larkana and Shahdadkot, the petitioners stated. They said that Talpur had been nominated in a case pertaining to billions of rupees corruption through fake bank accounts. They pleaded that she should be disqualified as member of the Sindh Assembly.