PTI to 'move' Supreme Judicial Council against CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja

According to sources, the PTI founder Imran Khan has given Barrister Ali Zafar the responsibility of filing the reference against the Election Commission.

The reference will demand the Supreme Judicial Council removal of the CEC and members from the Supreme Judicial Council.

The reference will cite reasons such as taking the electoral symbol from PTI, failure to provide a level playing field, changes made to the Islamabad Election Tribunal and not holding elections on time.

The reference will also mention the misinterpretation of the Supreme Court’s verdict and highlight certain points from the court’s decision on reserved seats.

Earlier, PTI slammed the ECP statement regarding the Supreme Court’s verdict declaring Imran Khan-founded party eligible for reserved seats and called it an attempt to nullify the court’s order.

In a statement, the PTI said that the election commission’s statement is a collection of “contradictions and an attempt to render the court’s order ineffective”.

PTI warned that attempts to deviate from the Supreme Court’s verdict will have severe negative consequences. “The party will not allow the Election Commission to disrespect the court’s order after the public mandate,” it noted.

READ: PTI slams ECP’s statement on Supreme Court verdict

PTI demanded that the Chief Election Commissioner and members should resign in light of the Supreme Court’s verdict. The party also called for the reins of the Election Commission to be handed over to individuals who uphold the Constitution and law.

It is important to note here that, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said it has decided to implement the Supreme Court (SC) verdict declaring PTI eligible for reserved seats.

The commission has issued instructions to its legal team to ensure the implementation of the Supreme Court decision.

SC reserved seats verdict

A 13-member bench of the top court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, ruled that the PTI is eligible for the allocation of reserved seats, dealing a major setback to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s ruling coalition.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah announced the 8-5 majority verdict, setting aside the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) order wherein it had upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision denying the reserved seats to the SIC.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Afghan, Justice Yahya Afridi, and Justice Ameenuddin Khan opposed the majority decision