Peshawar:
On Thursday, the High Court of Peshawar (PHC) canceled the suspension order on the scam of legislative entrants on seats reserved for women and minorities of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) assembly and ordered the Pakistan Electoral Commission (ECP) to decide to distribute the seats in 10 days.
A bench of two members, including Syed Arshad Ali and judge Dr Khurshid Iqbal, heard the petitions deposited by Pakistan Tehreek-E-insaf Parliamentians (PTI-P) and the National Awami Party (ANP), contesting the distribution of seats by the ECP.
During the hearing, Sultan Muhammad Khan represented the PTI-P, while Babar Khan Yousafzai appeared before the Court on behalf of the ANP. They had argued that the ECP had allocated the two parties one seat each, while they deserved more seats according to their strength in the house.
Tuesday, the PHC had seduced the swearing of the legislators appointed for seats reserved for the KP assembly on the petition deposited by the president of the PTI-P. The petitioner disputed the ECP notification of March 4, 2024.
He argued that on the basis of the party’s success ratio, the PTI-P was entitled to three seats reserved for women and minorities, but only received one seat. The court rendered the suspension order and issued an opinion and asked for the response to the ECP.
During the hearing Thursday, ECP’s special secretary Muhammad Arshad informed the court that the PTI-P had applied to the ECP but that his request had been rejected. Later, the ECP’s special secretary added that PTI-P moved the High Court of Islamabad (IHC), where his petition was still pending.
Answering a judicial question on the displacement of the two high lessons, the PTI-P lawyer, Sultan Muhammad Khan, said that he represented the petitioner in the PHC and did not know any dispute in the IHC. Later, the PTI-P lawyer withdrew his petition.
Yusufzai, the ANP lawyer, said his petition was also waiting in the PHC. The Special Secretary of the ECP replied that the case of the ANP was different from that of PTI-P, as one of his candidates won during the by-elections, which did not have an impact on the allocation of reserved seats.
The bench lifted its order of stay after the withdrawal of the PTI-P petition, while transmitted the PETition of the ANP concerning the distribution of the seats reserved for the ECP. The court ordered the ECP to hear considering the ANP request and to make a decision within 10 days.
