Commission of Pakistan for purportedly violating the SC’s directives from December 22, aimed at ensuring a “level playing field” for the party in the elections.
Heading the bench alongside Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali, CJP Isa stressed the importance of supporting allegations with proof. The hearing comes a day after the ECP submitted a response to the Supreme Court stating that 76% of the PTI’s nomination papers for the upcoming elections had been accepted, contradicting the party’s assertions of an uneven playing field.
The ECP, citing data from returning officers, maintained that 598 out of the party candidate’s 843 nomination papers for the National Assembly have been accepted, whereas 1,398 out of 1,777 nomination papers were accepted for the provincial assemblies.
Irked at the PTI counsel’s ‘politicisation’ of the matter, the CJP asked Khosa if he wanted the SC to rule that all the nomination papers filed by his party’s candidates must be accepted.
“What is wrong with the [ECP’s] report?” Justice Isa asked the counsel. The top judge asked Khosa to submit in writing anything that he thought was wrong with the ECP Punjab chief secretary’s written reply, submitted to the SC. “Do not make verbal accusations,” Justice Isa cautioned.
“Do not beat around the bush. Tell us exactly what you seek from the SC. If there is any state institution you don’t have faith in, tell us… we will pass a suitable order in light of that,” the CJP observed.
