ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, Secretary General Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s petitions for consolidation and transfer of cases to one High Court.

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Athar Minallah, heard the ECP’s petitions, requesting the apex court to order consolidation of all six petitions before one High Court.

The ECP had issued contempt notices to the PTI leaders. However, instead of defending, they challenged the notices before different high courts – Lahore High Court, LHC Rawalpindi bench, Sindh High Court and the Islamabad High Court on the grounds that Section 10 of the Elections Act, 2017 was against the Constitution.

During the proceeding, the bench remarked that either the ECP prepares for the local bodies’ elections or pursues the cases in different high courts. The chief justice questioned is there any precedent where the Supreme Court has ordered to consolidate cases of different high courts?

Barrister Sajeel Sheryar Swati, representing the ECP, said that the SC had ordered the consolidation of all income tax cases to one high court in 1999.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022