‘Code of conduct violation’: ECP reserves verdict on maintainability of case against Afridi

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has reserved its verdict on the maintainability of a case against Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi over alleged code of conduct violation related to by-election on a National Assembly seat that was held in November last year.

The five-member full bench of the ECP, Tuesday, heard the case against the CM KP over alleged code of conduct violation related to NA-18 Haripur by-election held on 23 November last year.

During the proceedings, Sajeel Swati, the counsel for Babar Nawaz Khan from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), the petitioner in the case, and returned candidate for NA-18 by-election, alleged that the CM KP clearly tried to intimidate the police, district administration, and election officials assigned to NA-18 Haripur, in his delivered in Havelian, a district of Haripur in KP province, on 19 November.

The CM KP, he said, tried to pressurise the aforementioned officials concerned in a bid to influence the said by-election.

Defence lawyer Ali Bukhari said the CM KP stressed on holding free and fair elections, denying that Afridi tried to intimidate, threaten or pressurise any official assigned to Haripur by-election, in the Havelian speech.

Bukhari said the petitioner’s stance was entirely based on the notice taken by the ECP and the district monitoring officer (DMO) concerned regarding the CM’s speech.

“He (petitioner) does not have any complaint of his own,” the defence counsel said, demanding of the bench to decide the maintainability of the case.

After arguments from the two sides, the bench, headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, reserved its verdict, expected to be issued soon. The CEC said that the next date of hearing of this case would be fixed only if the bench decided that the prosecution’s petition was maintainable for proceeding ahead in the case.

On 20 November, last year, the ECP took notice of CM KP’s public speech in Havelian, a tehsil of district Abbottabad, delivered a day earlier on 19 November.

The poll entity accused CM Afridi of threatening the district administration, police, and electoral officials assigned to hold the NA-18 by-election in the said speech. The electoral body then summoned the CM KP and the NA-18, fixing this case for regular hearing.

During the hearing of this case on 25 November, the ECP bench granted the CM KP exemption from physical appearance for the remaining hearings.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026