Imran Khan moves SC against ECP's decision on dissident members

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has challenged the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to reject the disqualification references against 20 dissident MNAs, ARY News reported on Monday.

According to details, the former premier has filed a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan to challenge the ECP’s to reject the disqualification references against the party’s 20 dissident Members of National Assembly (MNAs)

The petition, filed by PTI’s senior counsel Chaudhry Faisal Hussain, stated that the ECP judgement was arbitrary, illegal, and had been rendered in derogation of well-established principles of law and the Constitution.

The plea further stated that the Election Commission’s decision to dismiss the references was unconstitutional.

Imran Khan, in the petition, stated that the ECP order amounts to putting Article 63A in redundancy, allowing defection, horse-trading and floor crossing in the most casual way and defeats the purpose and objective of the provision in letter and spirit.

In the petition, the current opposition leader in the National Assembly, Raja Riaz, was also accused of acting in the most “treacherous and unfaithful” manner by changing his loyalties towards the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and becoming a “turncoat” ahead of the March 8 no-trust move against Imran Khan.

The petition pointed out that the ECP miserably failed to guard the Constitution and also failed to abide by its legal obligation under Election Act 2017.

It is pertinent to mention here that a three-member ECP bench on May 11 rejected the disqualification references against 20 dissident MNAs on the ground that Article 63A of the Constitution did not apply to the 20 MNAs who had jumped ship ahead of the no-confidence move.