ECP moves SC for consolidation of six petitions before one high court

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Thursday requested the Supreme Court (SC) to transfer and consolidate six petitions, filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and others, challenging its contempt notices in different high courts.

The commission filed an application in the SC through Sajeel Sheryar Swati Advocate under Article 186A of the Constitution for the transfer of PTI petitions pending before various high courts to one high court, in the interest of expeditious disposal and justice. The ECP made PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Fawad Chaudhry, Asad Umar, Mian Shabbir Ismail Advocate, Daniyal Khalid Khokhar, Federation of Pakistan as well as chief secretaries of Punjab, KP, Sindh as respondents.

The commission submitted that in August and September, 2022, it issued notices in the exercise of its powers of contempt, adding that the recipients of these notices invoked the constitutional jurisdiction under Article 199 of different high courts against the notices and contempt proceedings through four different petitions on inter alia the ground that section 10 of the Elections Act, 2010,.

Apart from the recipients of the notices for contempt, two other persons also invoked the constitutional jurisdiction of different high courts seeking inter alia declaratory relief to the effect that Section 10 of the Elections Act, 2010 is ultra vires the Constitution.

The ECP submitted that the PTI chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan and Fawad Chaudhry had invoked the jurisdiction of the learned LHC at Rawalpindi, challenging its contempt notices, Asad Umar at Sindh High Court, Daniyal Khalid at Islamabad High Court and Mian Shabbir at the Lahore High Court, Lahore. The ECP submitted that all six petitions pertain to the same subject matter iand hence they can be consolidated before any high court,” it contended.