KP Senate elections delay: ECP asked to submit necessary documents

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to submit the necessary documents before the court on a petition challenging the delay in holding of the Senate elections in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, Justice Arshad Ali and Justice Wiqar Ahmad heard the petition filed against the delay in holding the Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Former senator and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Azam Swati had filed the petition through his lawyer Ali Zaman Advocate.The lawyer told the court that the Senate elections were scheduled to take place on April 2 in KP, but these could not take place. He said that the Supreme Court had also decided the reserved seats case in favour of the PTI, but the ECP was using various tactics to delay the holding of the Senate elections in KP.

The court directed the ECP lawyer, Mohsin Karman, to submit relevant documents, including a copy of the Supreme Court’s ruling on reserved seats.

Ali Zaman informed the court that while Senate elections had been held in all other provinces, these were yet to take place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, depriving the province of representation in the Upper House of the Parliament. He argued the absence of senators from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa meant that the Upper House of the Parliament remained incomplete.The court directed the lawyer of the ECP to submit the necessary documents and adjourned the hearing until October 22.