Possible postponement of Senate polls: KP Assembly speaker’s review plea clubbed with Swati’s petition

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday ordered to club the review plea of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati with the petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader who had approached the high court against the possible postponement of the Senate election in KP.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati filed the review petition after the PHC ordered him to administer the oath to the MPAs elected on the reserved seats.

PTI senior leader Azam Swati had also moved against the orders of the Election Commission of Pakistan about the possible postponement of the Senate polls.

A two-member bench consisting of Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Wiqar Ahmad heard the petition of Azam Swati.

Syed Sikandar Shah and Ali Zaman appeared on behalf of the PTI leaders. The lawyers told the bench that the ECP had declared that the electoral watchdog could postpone the Senate election in the province if the speaker of the provincial assembly did not comply with the orders of the PHC.

The PHC had ordered the speaker of the KP Assembly to administer the oath to the MPAs elected on the reserved seats and facilitate them to cast their votes in the Senate election slated for April 2.

Syed Sikandar Shah informed the court that the KP Assembly speaker had also filed a review petition. He said that the court’s order about the administration of oath to the MPAs had made no mention about the postponement of the Senate election in KP. The bench said that the court would hear both the petitions and adjourned the hearing for tomorrow.