LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal on Friday rejected the disqualification reference the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf (PTI) had filed against Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif saying the matter is sub judice.

The PTI has refused to accept the rejection of reference and decided to move court.

`As the very verdict ofthe august Lahore High Court that became basis for the reference has been challenged through an intracourt appeal (No 1455 and 1456/2016) before the same court and is pending adjudication, therefore, the question of disqualification under Article 63 (2) of the Constitution is premature and thus the reference cannot be forwarded to the Election Commission,` says the speaker`s ruling released to the media.

The PTI had submitted the reference onJan201ast.

As the speaker is bound under Article 63 to give his ruling on or forward the disqualification reference(s) to the Election Commission, the deadline for the PTI reference was completing on Feb l9 (today).

The speaker`s office says copies of the ruling have been sent to all concerned, while the Election Commission has also been informed of it.

Refusing to accept the speaker`s ruling, the PTI has announcedknockingatthe door of the superior courts.

Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed has called a meeting of the PTI parliamentary party on Monday to decide launching a protest campaign against the speaker`s `partial` attitude andboycott of the upcoming assembly sessions.

The PTI has also plans to consult all other opposition parties forthefuture strategy.

Mr Rasheed told media persons that Speaker Rana Iqbal tried to `save his job` like NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq while `sacrificing merit for their masters` He said the PTI had filed the reference in the light of court decision. `The courts have already given their verdict on the illegal shifting of Sharif family`s sugar mills and there was no reason that the speaker should reject the reference.

`The plea that the matter is sub judice is actually a confession that the reference had some worth,` he said.