Court declared since political parties of AJK were not registered according to law, they have no power to serve notice to any individual 
Azad Jammu and Kashmir High Court (AJK HC) can be seen in this picture. — Facebook/AJK High Court Muzaffarabad
MIRPUR: Azad Jammu and Kashmir High Court (AJK HC) on Thursday declared the registration of AJK chapters of three major political parties, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), made by the AJK Election Commission, null and void for being against the due procedure and criteria set in the AJK interim constitution 1974.
Nullifying the registration of the above-mentioned political parties, a larger bench of the AJK HC, comprising Chief Justice Raja Sadaqat Hussain, Justice Mian Arif, Justice Sardar Ijaz and Justice Khalid Rasheed Ch, also declared the notices served by the political parties to the candidates of recently-held local bodies elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, null and void.
The larger bench of the AJK HC announced the judgment on four different writ petitions filed in the court, declaring the registration of political parties made by the AJK Election Commission unlawful for not being qualified and matching in line with the criteria and procedure set in the AJK interim constitution 1974.
The court declared that since the political parties of Azad Jammu Kashmir were not registered according to the law and constitution, they (the political parties) have no power to serve notice to any individual.
The learned larger bench of the AJK HC, while expressing dismay over the AJK Election Commission for its act of making registration of AJK political parties sans the criteria, rules, and regulations set in the AJK interim constitution 1974, directed the AJK EC to refrain from doing the unlawful registration of the AJK political parties since there was no concept of doing interim registration of any political party in the law of the land.
The learned court declared that the AJK Election Commission violated the law by doing the registration of political parties unlawfully, ignoring the law of registration of political parties.
However, the AJK Election Commission is advised to be careful in this connection in the future by performing its responsibilities strictly in line with the law,” the learned court ordered.
The learned AJK HC declared that this verdict will not become any hurdle or restriction in the course of registration of any political party in line with law and constitution.
