SC suspends ECP'sNov 21 de-seating order

The apex court has suspended an order of the election oversight authority to de-seat a PTI lawmaker from Balochistan, noting that there is a need to review every aspect of the matter as casting someone out of a legislature is no small matter.

A three-member regular bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and comprising Justice Ayesha A Malik

and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi on Monday heard an appeal filed by MNA Adil Khan Bazai against an Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) verdict of November 21.

Bazai, an independent candidate from Quetta, had initially submitted an affidavit for joining the PML-N. However, he later "switched allegiance", according to the PML-N, and became part of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), a party comprising PTI backed independent candidates.

Bazai had claimed that the affidavit with regard to his joining the PML-N was fake. The ECP had, however, de-seated him in view of the Election Act, 2017.

During the hearing on Monday, Bazai's counsel, Taimur Aslam, referred to the Supreme Court July 12 order with regard to allocation of reserved seats to the PTI.

Justice Shah, who authored the July 12 order that is still not implemented by the ECP, asked Aslam if he genuinely wanted to rely on the reserved seats decision.

Justice Abbasi remarked that amendments have since been introduced in the Election Act, 2017 that, according to the PML-N government's claim, have made the SC order redundant.

Justice Ayesha Malik asked whether reliance could be placed on the reserved seats decision in this case and whether Adil Bazai was part of the list of 80 members of the PTI.

The petitioner's counsel argued that Bazai was de-seated by the ECP under Article 63A. He contended that the ECP neither reviewed the facts properly nor summoned Bazai for an inquiry.

Justice Shah raised a question about the ECP's jurisdiction, given that the matter of Adil Bazai's affidavits was pending in the civil court. He said the court would examine this issue. Justice Ayesha noted that Adil Bazai had two affidavits and claimed to have signed the second one.

The court later suspended the ECP's November 21 decision to de-seat Adil Bazai and adjourned the hearing until December 12.

On January 13, a three-member SC bench upheld the ECP's December 22, 2023 order declaring the PTI's intra-party polls null and void. As a consequence of the SC verdict and its misinterpretation by the ECP, the PTI candidates had to contest the February 8 general elections as independents.

Eighty such independent candidates reached the National Assembly and later joined the SIC in an apparent bid to claim reserved seats for women and minorities. The ECP, however, refused to allocate the seats to the party, a decision that the SIC challenged in the Supreme Court.