ISLAMABAD: Justice Athar Minallah of the Supreme Court declared on Thursday that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is not authorised to remove any political party from the polls.
“Election Commission does not have the authority to exclude any political party from [taking part in] elections,” Justice Minallah declared during the hearing of the Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) appeal against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) decision that denied them reserved seats. The 13-member full court was presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa.
Judges Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Muneeb Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Amin-ud-din Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Malik, Athar Minallah, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Shahid Waheed, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, and Justice Naeem Akhtar make up the bench.
Justice Muneeb asked SIC Chief Hamid Raza’s party affiliation during today’s session, while Justice Mandokhail questioned if a candidate can switch parties after withdrawing his nomination papers.
In response to the court’s request for information about Raza’s documents and political affiliation, Sikander Bashir, the attorney for the ECP, pointed out that the SIC chief’s document stated that Raza was affiliated with PTI-Nazriati (PTI-N), which is, in reality, a completely separate political party from the PTI.
