The Lahore High Court on Wednesday constituted a larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Lahore High Court Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti, to hear a plea challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s relevant section under which the former prime minister Imran Khan was disqualified.
Earlier, LHC’s Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi had sent the case file to LHC’s chief justice for constituting a larger bench on this matter.
During that proceeding, Additional Attorney General Nasar Ahmed raised an objection over the maintainability of the petition. No concerned ministry was made respondent in the petition, he further told the court.
The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Azhar Siddique, then requested the court to send the matter before the larger bench. At this point, Ahmed did not disagree.
The petitioner’s counsel argued that we have to examine whether or not the ECP could disqualify any member of the parliament. He argued that neither the electoral watchdog is the court nor it has the judicial powers to decide this matter. He contended that ECP exceeded its jurisdiction while disqualifying former the PTI chief adding that the election tribunal could only disqualify any member of the parliament.
However, a lawyer representing the ECP sought a fifteen-day time for submitting a reply.
