The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday dismissed a petition by former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani challenging the results of the Senate chairman election held earlier this month, noting that proceedings of the upper house of parliament were “immune from the interference” of the high court.
The former prime minister — who was the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) joint candidate challenging the government candidate Sadiq Sanjrani — had lost the Senate chairman election by obtaining 42 votes compared to Sanjrani’s 48.
Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani filed the petition through his counsel Farooq H. Naek and submitted that rejection of seven votes cast in his favor was illegal. He alleged that the PTI government made a serious attempt to influence the result of the election on the seat of Senate Chairman to get its own candidate elected on Senate Chairman seat.
The petitioner aid that his polling agent Senator Farooq H. Naek protested over rejection of seven votes cast in his favor but Presiding Officer Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah arbitrarily rejected seven votes on the ground that stamp was affixed on the name of the petitioner instead of the boxes in front of it.
