The Supreme Court (SC) on Saturday rejected the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) “attempts to create confusion” on its July 12 verdict on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) eligibility for reserved seats, saying that the clarification sought by the commission was “misconceived”.
“Putting together the record placed before us [top court], and considering the same in light of the short order, leaves in little doubt that the clairification sought by the commission is nothing more than a contrived device and adoption of dilatory tactics,” the eight judges stated in a clarification.
After notifying 39 out of 80 Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) as the PTI members, the ECP had approached the Supreme Court seeking legal and constitutional guidance on the matter of the remaining PTI lawmakers in the national and provincial assemblies in July this year.
The electoral body submitted a plea to the top court’s registrar via its secretary Omar Hamid Khan to seek an elaborated version of its July 12 order regarding the PTI-backed independent candidates in which the SC declared the former ruling party eligible for reserved seats.