A five-member Constitutional Bench (CB) of the Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on PTI leader Shibli Faraz’s appeal against his disqualification as a senator.

On July 31, Faraz, along with PTI’s Omar Ayub and other lawmakers, was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment by a Faisalabad anti-terrorism court for his involvement in the May 9, 2023 riots. Subsequently, he was disqualified as the Senate opposition leader under Article 63(1h) (disqualification from parliament due to conviction) of the Constitution.

After being denied relief by the Peshawar High Court (PHC), Ayub and Faraz approached the SC on October 4 against the former’s order under Article 185(3) of the Constitution (appellate jurisdiction).

Headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, the CB took up four appeals — two each by Ayub and Faraz — for hearing today, according to the cause list. The bench also included Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Shakeel Ahmad.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan appeared as the counsel for Ayub and Faraz. He informed the bench that Ayub wanted to withdraw his appeals as his wife would contest the Haripur (NA-18) by-elections for the seat he vacated.

Gohar further said that Ayub also wanted to withdraw the appeal against his denotification as the NA opposition leader, noting that Mehmood Khan Achakzai had been nominated for the role.

Meanwhile, Faraz also wanted to withdraw his appeal against the Senate chairman’s notification removing him from the opposition leader role, but wanted to proceed ahead with the plea challenging the ECP’s notification disqualifying him, Gohar told the bench.

The lawyer noted that by-elections on the vacant Senate seats were scheduled for October 30 (Thursday). Five candidates, including two PTI-backed ones, are contesting the by-polls to fill the general seat of the Upper House from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“It is our request that notices be issued on Shibli Faraz’s petition against the election commission’s notification,” Gohar said.

Subsequently, the CB issued a notice to the ECP on Faraz’s appeal and adjourned the hearing till October 29 (Wednesday), a day before the by-polls.

‘Will face our opponents’ in by-elections: Omar Ayub

Polling on the NA-18 seat left vacant due to Ayub’s disqualification will be held on November 23, the ECP has said.

In a post on X today, Ayub said: “We will face our opponents in the NA-18 Haripur By-Election scheduled to be held on 23rd November, 2025. NA-18 Haripur belongs to PM Imran Khan and PTI.”

Ayub and Faraz had challenged their disqualifications before the PHC, which initially allowed them interim relief by restraining the ECP from taking any action against the PTI leaders.

However, the PHC earlier this month denied the duo, as well as then-MNA Abdul Latif Chitrali, any relief. It ordered them to first surrender before the relevant court and adjourned the petitions for an indefinite period, allowing the ECP to fill the vacant seats.

The court recalled multiple stay orders issued earlier, wherein the ECP, the Senate chairman and the National Assembly speaker were directed not to proceed further on their impugned notifications.