Islamabad: Justice (Retd.) Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on Monday filed a petition on behalf of the PTI Founding Leader Akbar S. Babar against the appointment of Mehmood Khan Achakzai as the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.

The petition cites several constitutional provisions and statutes which have been breached while declaring Mehmood khan Achakzai as the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.

The petition details that the selection and appointment process employed for the appointment of the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly 'fails to demonstrate that the nomination of the Leader of the Opposition reflected the independently formed and freely exercised will of the Members of the National Assembly concerned, thereby implicating the constitutional guarantees embodied in Articles 4 and 17 of the Constitution.'

The petition claims that the notification of the Leader of the Opposition was issued in grave violation of the Constitution 'arising from the circumstances in which the nomination was admittedly finalized pursuant to the express directive of a person (Imran Khan Ahmed Khan Niazi) constitutionally disqualified from holding public office and presently serving a sentence pursuant to conviction.'

The petition claims that the Notification of the Leader of the Opposition is void as it was issued 'without lawful compliance with the mandatory jurisdictional precondition expressly prescribed under Rule 39(3) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007. Rule 39(3) unequivocally mandates that the Speaker shall declare a member as Leader of the Opposition having the greatest numerical strength 'after verification of the signatures of the members.' Under the law the verification process is not merely a formality or 'a discretionary step, but as a condition precedent to the exercise of the power of declaration. The power to declare the Leader of the Opposition does not arise in vacuum. It arises only upon fulfillment of the statutory precondition of verification. Absent such verification, jurisdiction does not vest in the Speaker to issue the declaration. Verification, in its legal and ordinary meaning, entails independent ascertainment of authenticity and voluntariness.'

The petition urges the Federal Constitutional Court to declare the notification 'declaring Mehmood Khan Achakzai as Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan as void ab initio, without lawful authority and without jurisdiction, having been issued in violation of the mandatory requirements of Rule 39(3), and having resulted in violation of the fundamental democratic and constitutional rights of the citizens of Pakistan to be governed through lawful, transparent and constitutionally compliant parliamentary processes, and is therefore ultra vires of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007.'

The petition demands that the Federal Constitutional Court 'declare that constitutional disqualification under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution cannot be directly or indirectly circumvented through de facto exercise of political authority by a disqualified individual in relation to parliamentary processes, and that any declaration based upon such impermissible direction is unlawful and void.'

The petition urges the Federal Constitutional Court to 'direct the Speaker of the National Assembly to initiate and complete a fresh process for declaration of the Leader of the Opposition strictly in accordance with Rule 39(3), ensuring independent verification of signatures, ascertainment of voluntariness, demonstrable formation of lawful and reasoned satisfaction, transparency consistent with constitutional safeguards, and insulation of the process from any unlawful or extraneous influence' and that 'pending final adjudication of this petition, restrain Mehmood Khan Achakzai from participating in constitutional processes under Articles 175A, 213 and 224A of the Constitution.'