PHC defers hearing in KP Senate election delay

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court has deferred the hearing in a petition challenging the postponement of Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa till the Supreme Court’s ruling on reserved seats.

A two-member bench, comprising Justice SM Attique Shah and Justice Muhammad Ijaz Khan, heard the petition filed by former senator Azam Khan Swati through Ali Zaman advocate. Advocate Mohsin Kamran appeared on behalf of the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Azam Swati’s counsel argued that the Senate elections should be held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, noting that the province’s 11 Senate seats have been vacant for several months due to the Election Commission’s condition tying the elections to reserved seats.

He pointed out that while Senate elections had been conducted nationwide, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained the exception.Justice SM Attique Shah remarked that the Supreme Court was currently hearing a case on reserved seats, and a decision on the Senate elections would follow the Supreme Court’s verdict.

The Election Commission’s lawyer informed the court that 80 percent of the hearings on the reserved seats case in the Supreme Court had been completed.The court concluded that it would hear the case after the Supreme Court’s decision on reserved seats and subsequently adjourned the hearing.