Plea against unseating of MPs: CJP advises petitioners to make new Punjab MPAs party in case

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial Wednesday advised petitioners challenging the unseating of PTI’s Punjab lawmakers to make the newly elected members respondents in the case.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial led the bench comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Ayesha Malik as members. The bench took up the appeal against the unseating of 25 PTI members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The petitioners’ counsel informed the apex court that he had been hired last night to plead this case. “The court grants you time for preparation,” the chief justice replied adding, “We are looking forward to examining some really interesting questions in the de-seated MPAs case”.The Supreme Court also allowed dissident MPA Mohsin Ata Khan Khosa to withdraw his appeal.

Later the case was adjourned for an indefinite period. Allegedly defecting from their political party, PTI, these 25 lawmakers had voted for PLM-N Vice President Hamza Shehbaz Sharif in the election for the chief minister of Punjab on April 16.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified these alleged defectors on May 23 based on a Supreme Court verdict. These included five elected MPAs on seats reserved for women and minorities after a reference filed by PTI Chairman Imran Khan seeking the removal of defectors from the assembly.

The case was heard by a three-member bench of the ECP, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Shah Mohammad Jatoi. Later the deserters and former MPAs moved to the Supreme Court to challenge the ECP ruling. The votes of the dissident lawmakers got Hamza a total of 197 votes, which is well over the 186 required for a simple majority. However, it did not work out for the PML-N leader as dissident MPAs were de-seated from the house later.