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The Islamabad High Court on Friday called Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's conduct during his rally in Lower Dir on March 11 as "inappropriate" and rejected his and Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar's plea to suspend the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) notice issued to them for participating in the rally.
"You should have appeared before the commission. Your conduct was inappropriate," Justice Farooq told Barrister Ali Zafar, who was representing Imran Khan and Asad Umar, reported The Express Tribune. The judge was referring to the ECP summon to Imran Khan to appear before the ECP on March 14 to explain his conduct. "Sufficient evidence is available to establish that you [PM Imran] have violated the provision of the Revised Code of Conduct, Elections Act 2017, and the Rules made thereunder," the commission's notice had read. Imran Khan had made a profanity-laced speech in the rally, using derogatory language for the Opposition leaders and threatening them with consequences if the no-confidence motion scheduled against Khan is defeated. Imran Khan launched a scathing attack on the troika of opposition figures, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Asif Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif, the three leaders who are spearheading the no-trust move against him while addressing a public meeting at Dir Scouts Ground in Balambat which falls in the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the Dawn reported. Khan referred to the trio of Opposition leaders as "Showbaz Sharif, Diesel and Dakoo". Adjourning the hearing till March 28, Justice Farooq noted that the court was not suspending the ECP's notice to Khan and Umar. Meanwhile, ECP is considering putting off the second phase of the local government elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa that were scheduled to take place in 18 districts of the province on March 31 saying that the election code of conduct was being seriously violated in the districts. ECP believes that the level playing field had been disturbed in the area where the polls would be held and the commission would soon make a decision about when to hold the local government elections, The Express Tribune reported citing sources. Separately, the ECP has also stopped Imran Khan from going ahead with his planned visit to the Malakand district of the province. (ANI)
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