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ECP adjourns hearing on reference filed against 46 PTI dissident members of National & Punjab Assemblies till 10th May

ISLAMABAD, May 06 (SABAH):  The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) conducted hearing on the reference filed against 46 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) dissident members of the National and Punjab Assemblies on Friday.

Three-member bench of the commission headed by CEC Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja and comprising NIsar Ahmed Durrani and Shah Muhammad Jatoi heard the case.

During the hearing, dissident members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have submitted a written reply to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding the references of their disqualification from the National Assembly after they failed to follow party directives.

Chaudhry Farrukh Altaf, Chaudhry Asim Nazir, Dr. Afzal Khan Dhandla, Nawab Sher Wasir, Raja Riaz Ahmed Khan, Noor Alam Khan, Malik Ahmad Hussain Dehrr, Rana Muhammad Qasim Khan Noon, Abdul Ghaffar Wattoo, Makhdoom Samiul Hassan Gilani, Makhdoom Mubeen Ahmed, Basit Ahmed Sultan Bukhari, Amir Tallal Gopang, Sardar Ajmal Farooq Khan Khosa, Sardar Riaz Mahmood Mazari, Jawariya Zafar Aheer, Wajiha Qamar, Nuzhat Pathan and Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani had submitted their answers.

PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry requested time to read the dissident members’ replies and stated that he would begin arguments after reading all of the statements.

Balochistan member of the ECP Shah Muhammad Jatoi said that the commission had till May 14 to make a decision on the case.

The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja  further emphasised that in either case, the arguments should be completed by Tuesday so that there is time for decision-making.

The ECP directed the parties to present their arguments and adjourned the hearing of the case till May 10.

Last week, the electoral watchdog summoned dissident legislators of the PTI in a reference moved against them under Article 63A (1) (b) (i) of the Constitution.

The decision came during a meeting held under the chairmanship of CEC Dr. Sikandar Sultan Raja. Senior officials of the commission were also in attendance.

Earlier, the PTI had sent references against 20 of its dissident members to the electoral watchdog, seeking their disqualification for violating party discipline and defecting.