During the ECP hearing, the PTI requested more information on the reference the party filed with the Election Commission of Pakistan against its dissident members, while the renegade members pleaded with the commission to dismiss the petitions against them after declaring them unmaintainable.
On Tuesday, a three-member Election Commission of Pakistan bench led by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja heard the case.
PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry sought more material during the hearing while taking the stance of seeking a rejoinder.
However, the lawyer for the dissident members objected to the provision of more material, stating that the commission should first decide whether the petition is maintainable.
On this point, the PTI lawyer argued that the ECP had become a tribunal and that the other party should present more evidence to it.
When the CEC inquired as to why the evidence was not attached to the reference, the PTI lawyer stated that the evidence was only for the commission’s review and not for the scrutiny of dissident members.
In response to an inquiry from an ECP member from Sindh, the PTI lawyer told the commission that the dissident members had joined another party and that the party head had served them with show-cause notices.
Previously, PTI dissident members of the Punjab Assembly submitted their response to the commission.
When the PTI lawyers asked the commission to disqualify 25 dissident members of the party, the election commission told him he couldn’t change history by speaking loudly. The CEC stated that the commission would first decide whether the petition could be maintained.
The election commissioner also stated that the arguments of the dissident members would be heard on Friday.
With this, the commission postponed the case’s hearing until May 13.
