ISLAMABAD: Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued notifications for contempt of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) case to PTI Chairman Imran Khan and his advisors Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar.
The ECP’s request to consolidate all of its contempt proceedings against PTI leaders from various high courts was heard by a three-judge SC panel made up of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ayesha A. Malik, and Justice Athar Minallah.
In his speeches on July 18, 21, 27, August 4 and 10, the former premier allegedly made “baseless claims” against the ECP and its leader, according to the election commission.
The hearing today
The election commission requested that matters that were pending in various high courts be transferred to one high court, the bench noted during the course of the hearings.The ECP added that they should get ready for both local and federal elections or they would have to take their complaints to various courts.
According to the top justice, the ECP also provided a legal precedence for combining cases with Supreme Court orders. He stated that the Election Commission is relying on Article 186A.
He questioned the ECP attorney on whether the Supreme Court had ever combined cases from various high courts. The attorney then stated that in 1999, the supreme court ordered the consolidation of income tax cases that were pending in several high courts.
In response, the CJP stated that the same legal principle must underpin any clubbing of matters that are pending in various high courts. He enquired as to the identity of the petitioners in the high courts’ contempt of election commission cases.
In response, the attorney stated that PTI leaders Khan, Chaudhry, and Umar have brought legal actions against the electoral commission before various high courts.
