ISLAMABAD   -  A Supreme court bench, headed by Justices Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Shahid Waheed, and Irfan Saadat Khan, dismissed a request from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) asking for clarification on confirming the political affiliation of certain PTI candidates elected in the 2024 elections.

The ECP had filed an application (CMA No. 7540 of 2024) after a Supreme Court ruling on July 12, 2024, questioning how they should verify the political affiliation of PTI’s returned candidates (MNAs and MPAs) without a formal party structure in place.

PTI quickly shot back with their own response (CMA No. 8139 of 2024), providing documentation showing Barrister Gohar Ali Khan as the party’s Chairman and Omar Ayub Khan as Secretary General. PTI argued that the ECP’s request was just a delay tactic to stall the Supreme Court’s decision.

After reviewing the submissions, the court made it clear that the ECP’s request didn’t hold water. The court noted that the ECP had already recognized Gohar Ali Khan and Omar Ayub Khan in official documents and received the required certifications that listed the names of the elected PTI candidates in July. The court bluntly stated that the ECP’s plea seemed like a way to sidestep the Supreme Court’s order and warned the Commission it couldn’t flip-flop on the issue. The court also warned the ECP that further delays could result in legal consequences if it continued to drag its feet on its constitutional responsibilities. With that, the court threw out the ECP’s application and ordered them to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling immediately.