IHC larger bench to hear Imran’s plea against ECP

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi has formed a larger bench to hear the case of PTI Chairman Imran Khan who has challenged powers of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to initiate contempt of court proceedings.

The larger bench, headed by Justice Aamer Farooq, will hear the case on Monday.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb will be other members of the bench.

Imran has challenged August 10 show cause notice issued by the commission under Section 103A of the Representation of People Act 1976 and under Article 204 of the Constitution for committing contempt of court by not submitting foreign funding record despite orders.

On August 30, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb of the IHC after hearing arguments from Imran Khan's counsel Babar Awan advocate referred the matter to the IHC chief justice for formation of a larger bench to hear the matter.

Dismissing Imran’s application against the show cause notice, the ECP on August 10 declared that it had the legal right to hear the contempt of court case. 

Besides this, the ECP directed Imran on August 16 to submit details of the party foreign funding. 

Imran through his counsel Babar Awan advocate has now challenged the dismissal of his application before the IHC.

Awan took the stance that the impugned order suffered from material irregularities which was outcome of ignorance of law on the subject and was tainted with malice.

Imran cited chairman ECP and PTI dissident member Akbar S Baber as respondents.

The petitioner told the court that the ECP initiated proceedings against him in relation to an order dated January 16, 2017.

He said the ECP did not have powers to proceed against him for contempt.   He said the ECP heard the objection petition and dismissed it on August 10, 2017.  The petitioner is aggrieved and dissatisfied with the order, as it is against the law and facts.