ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday deferred further proceedings on a set of petitions involving resignations tendered by legislators belonging to two major political parties the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) but observed that any ex-parte decisions would give these parties an excuse to take people to the streets.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali adjourned proceedings in view of an adjournment request submitted through an application by senior counsel Hamid Khan, who is representing the PTI, because of his preoccupation.

But, the chief justice postponed further proceedings with an observation that this was the last time and no further deferment would be granted when the matter would be taken up again on Nov 15.

Petitioner Zafar Ali Shah, a former PML-N senator, however, deplored that the case was pending for one year in which he had raised important questions of the law. Therefore, the court shouldnot leave it just like this, he argued.

Mr Shah pleaded that after resignations of the two parties` members in the National Assembly and the Senate, they were no more parliamentarians and, therefore, the entire proceeding of the parliament was illegal.

The court, however, observed that it could not decide the matter without hearing the other side. Otherwise, they would contend that they had not been heard.

The court also said that it had no objection in adjourning the matter but it was highlighted in the media as if the court never hears election matters or high-profile cases.

When the court asked the government`s law officer about the government`s intention to furnish a reply on the petitions, Additional Attorney General Mohammad Waqar Rana said that since the matter was related to proceedings of the parliament and its members, he would like to seek instructions from the federal government on filing a concise statement.

The petitioner had sought a judicial declaration that the seats should be considered vacant from the date the lawmakers of both the PTI and MQM ten-dered their resignation before the National Assembly speaker and the Senate chairman.

The legislators of the two parties have already withdrawn their resignations f rom both the houses of parliament after the government accepted their demand of constituting a commission comprising Supreme Court judges to investigate the allegation of massive rigging in the 2013 general elections in the case of PTI and formation of a grievance redressal committee to address concerns in case of MQM.

In his appeal against the April 13, 2015 verdict of the Islamabad High Court rejecting his earlier case in which he had challenged the ruling of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq of refusing to accept resignations tendered by PTI members, the petitioner had challenged PTI members` right to return to parliament after staying away for over seven months.

But, on Nov 10, 2015 PTI in its rejoinder took a plea before the Supreme Court that the decision or order of the National Assembly speaker of accepting or rejecting resignations of its lawmakers was a matter that clearly falls outside the jurisdiction of the judiciary.