Islamabad: Chief Justice Athar Minallah on Tuesday said the evidence of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that the high court rejected the symbol of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ‘bat’ was correct. fair voting between parties.
“Should the court give its consent to the unconstitutional interpretation of the constitutional body?
A 13-judge bench was hearing a petition filed by the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIK) against the Peshawar High Court (PHC) order denying the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) the seat it was given.
A bench headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Faez Jesus included Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.
In today’s hearing, Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman said that independent candidates are considered part of a political party if they join.
AGP: The question is whether independent candidates can join JIM under Article 51.
Justice Minallah stressed that political parties have rights under Article 51 of the Constitution and said that people vote for political parties but the ECP excludes political parties from elections.
The Attorney General emphasized that independent candidates cannot form parliament or join political parties that do not have parliamentary status.
Later, JIM’s lawyer Faisal Siddiqui submitted the notification issued by the National Assembly Secretariat regarding the appointment of Zartaj Gul as the Speaker of Parliament and stated that the ECP confirmed that independent candidates have joined the SIK in response.
This stated that Justice Muneeb accepted that the electoral body belonged to the independent candidate SIK.
“Now, the ECP record itself admits that these people belong to SIK […] the judge asked and said that if the candidates are free to join political parties, they will become parliamentarians.
Further, Justice Aisha asked how the electoral body can treat SIK as a parliamentary party when it is not a political party.
He then adjourned the case to July 9.
