Pak court dismisses petition against Zardari

A Pakistani court has dismissed a petition seeking an order to bar Asif Ali Zardari functioning as the President. Jamaat-e-Islami leader Farid Piracha had filed the petition in the Lahore high court that contended Zardari had been disqualified in the light of a recent supreme court judgment that bars the President from engaging in political activities.

Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh on Tuesday observed that the order sought by Piracha could not be granted as another petition on the same issue is pending adjudication and its maintainability had not been decided as yet.

He then dismissed Piracha's application.The petitioner claimed Zardari had been persistently carrying on political activities as the head of the state as well as the leader of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party.

He said a full bench of the Lahore high court had on May 12, 2011 suggested that the President should disassociate himself from the post of chief of the PPP but he had been consistently disobeying the court’s order and the constitution.