Imran Khan moves SC against election body for not disqualifying dissidents

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan has knocked at the doors of the country's Supreme Court to challenge the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) declaration on May 11 that rejected the disqualification references against 20 party dissident members of the National Assembly (MNAs). The ECP had dismissed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf's references last month seeking the disqualification of its dissident members of the National Assembly after they voted against Imran Khan in the no-confidence motion leading to the collapse of PTI government.

In a unanimous decision, a three-member ECP bench rejected the disqualification references which were referred to the commission by the PTI against 20 dissident MNAs on the ground that Article 63A of the Constitution, which deals with the lawmakers' disqualification for defection, did not apply to the 20 MNAs who had jumped ship ahead of the no-confidence move against former Prime Minister Imran Khan last month, Dawn reported. The PTI had filed references against MNAs Noor Alam Khan, Dr Mohammad Afzal Khan Dhandla, Nawab Sher Waseer, Raja Riaz Ahmad, and Ahmed Hussain Deharr among many others.

PTI's lawyer Faisal Chaudhry had requested the court to provide a copy of the reserved verdict, saying that he will appeal against it. He maintained that the dissidents had opposed PTI's request to provide more records. "Some things couldn't be brought on record properly," Faisal had added.

The election commission in his verdict, unanimously said the declaration filed against the MNAs under Article 63(A) was not found in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan. The voting on the no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan-led Pakistan government was held in the National Assembly on April 9, with 174 members recording their votes in favour of the motion.

Imran Khan has become the first Prime Minister of Pakistan to lose a no-trust vote in the National Assembly. Notably, no Prime Minister has completed a full five-year tenure in Pakistan so far.