LHC issues notice to Zardari over holding dual offices

The Chief Justice Lahore High Court has issued a notice to President Asif Ali Zardari for holding multiple offices despite an earlier LHC full bench declaration ordering against it. The LHC was hearing a petition seeking contempt of court proceedings against President Asif Ali Zardari for not relinquishing political office. The court had ruled on May 12, 2011 that President Zardari should surrender the position of co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and that the Presidency should not be used for political activities. “The use of Presidency for political activity is inconsistent with its sanctity, dignity, neutrality and independence. Therefore, it is expected that the president of Pakistan would cease the use of the premises of Presidency for political meetings of his party (PPP),” a four-judge bench of the LHC had said in its orders. Zardari, however, has yet to relinquish either of his offices. The notice was issued to the president’s principal secretary on Friday. Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that the full bench which had issued the orders had expected that president would relinquish one of his offices, but that did not happen. The chief justice issued a notice to the president’s principal secretary, asking for a reply from his office within a week. Moreover, a larger bench was also constituted for further proceedings of the case.