ISLAMABAD: Two more dissidents of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and former MPAs from Punjab approached the Supreme Court on Wednesday challenging the May 20 Election Commission of Pakistan’s order de-seating the party’s 25 MPAs for voting in favour of PML-N candidate Hamza Shehbaz in the election for chief minister.

The appeals were filed by Sajida Yousuf and Uzma Kar Dar, who were elected MPAs on reserved seats for women. They nominated the ECP, PTI and the Punjab Assembly secretariat through Punjab PA speaker as respondents.

This is the second time women members have approached the top court.

Earlier on May 30, another former MPA from Punjab, Zahara Batool, had challenged the ECP de-seating order of the PTI MPAs in the Supreme Court, and sought the order to be set aside.

Sajida Yousuf, Uzma Kardar file appeals in Supreme Court

The ECP had dubbed these MPAs as defectors under Article 63-A of the Constitution.

Similarly on June 11, former prime minister Imran Khan had also approached the Supreme Court challenging the May 11 ECP declaration rejecting the disqualification references against 20 PTI dissident members of the National Assembly (MNA).

In a unanimous decision, a three-member ECP bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, had rejected the disqualification references which were referred to the ECP by the PTI against its 20 dissident MNAs on the grounds that Article 63-A of the Constitution, which deals with lawmakers’ disqualification for committing defection, did not apply to these 20 MNAs, who had jumped the ship ahead of the no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan.

But the ECP, on May 20, had de-seated 25 PTI MPAs after declaring them defectors under Article 63A of the Constitution.

The two MPAs, who have filed the petitions in the Supreme Court through Advocate Khalid Javed, also sought 14 days from the top court to furnish additional documents in support of their appeals.

The petitioners argued in the appeals that the May 20 ECP declaration was against the law and facts of the case and the ECP had diverted from the principle enunciated by the Supreme Court that a particular thing required to be done in a particular manner should be done in that manner only.

The petitioners further said that the ECP had also failed to consider that the “so-called” declaration of defection made by the party head, purportedly on April 18, 2022, was without lawful authority and nullity in the eyes of the law.

The petitions further contended that the ECP had also failed to appreciate that there was a clear distinction between the party head on the one hand and the parliamentary party of the PTI in the Punjab Assembly on the other hand.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2022