PTI moves top court against election act bill

Plea filed by Barrister Gohar Khan under Article 184(3) of Constitution wants legislation to be declared “null and void”

Mehtab Pirzada

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Wednesday filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the amendments to the Election Act 2017 —  aiming at “circumventing” the apex court’s July 12 ruling on the reserved seats issue — which were passed by both the National Assembly and the Senate on Tuesday.

The plea filed under Article 184(3) of the Constitution by PTI Chairman Gohar Khan via lawyer Barrister Salman Akram Raja urges the apex court to declare the Elections (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024 bill “null and void”.

Tabled by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Bilal Azhar Kiyani last month, the legislation sailed through the NA as well as the Senate amid stern resistance from the opposition benches.

The move drew a strong reaction from the PTI, as once it comes into effect following the president’s assent, it would seemingly “reverse” the Imran Khan-founded party’s resurrection in the assemblies as it provisions a prohibition on independent candidates from changing party affiliations at a later stage from the one mentioned in their affidavits initially.

Last month, the SC had declared PTI eligible for reserved seats after which the Election Commission of Pakistan notified as many as 93 lawmakers from three provincial legislatures as PTI members.

Meanwhile, 39 lawmakers in the NA, who had shown their affiliation with the PTI in their nomination papers, have also been declared by the ECP as PTI members.

Speaking on the NA floor on Tuesday, PTI MNA Ali Muhammad Khan said that the government is proposing changes to the election law to “attack” the SC.

The PTI lawmaker had said that the party would challenge the Bill in the top court. The statement was reiterated by Gohar, who underscored that despite the supremacy of the parliament, only the apex court has the authority to interpret the law and the Constitution.

Meanwhile, voicing opposition against the legislation in the Senate, PTI’s Shibli Faraz said that the Bill was tabled in “bad faith” to prevent implementation of the verdict given by a majority of the apex court’s judges.

Defending the legislation and presenting the government’s point of view, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the Bill was drafted before the apex court’s verdict and aimed at further interpretation.

“The authority to make laws rests solely with Parliament and this power would not be delegated to a group of 17 individuals, as Parliament was determined to exercise its authority,” Tarar said adding, “The Bill was introduced to provide needed clarification and enhance the electoral process.”

Stressing that amending laws was a parliamentary right, not one to be claimed by any other institution, the law minister said there was a clear distinction between interpreting and rewriting the Constitution.