By IANS,
Islamabad : The Lahore high court Thursday restrained Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari from taking part in political activities, Geo News reported.
In its 33-page verdict, the court said the president was not supposed to perform political activities and was bound to be impartial.
Several petitions challenging holding of dual office by Zardari were being heard by different benches of the court since 2009.
On March 10, counsel A.K. Dogar said Zardari was holding the office of Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairperson along with the office of president of Pakistan, making the President House a hub of political activities.
He said Zardari’s act of holding political office was in clear violation of the constitution, and prayed that the president be directed to surrender the office of the Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairperson.
Initially, a government legal panel had contested the petitions. However, they boycotted the proceedings later, expressing their dissatisfaction after the court refused to hear their objection petition first.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry later started ex-parte (one sided) proceedings on the petitions.