Justice Minallah sees PTI complaints ‘prima facie correct’ about uneven playing field

ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court Justice Athar Minallah on Friday expressed the view that the allegations made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) about being denied a level-playing field in the upcoming general elections are “prima facie correct.”

The observation came during the hearing of PTI’s petition seeking a fair electoral environment. The three-member bench, comprising Acting Chief Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Minallah, and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, addressed the matter.

Justice Minallah referred to a raid at the residence of former PTI leader Usman Dar, stating that the incident had been widely reported in the newspapers.

The Director General of Law of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was present in the court.

The Supreme Court directed the ECP representative to meet with PTI counsels at 3:00 pm on the same day to address the party’s concerns regarding the level-playing field.

Additionally, the court ordered the Attorney General to assist the ECP during the meeting with PTI lawyers.

PTI founder Imran Khan’s lawyer, Shoaib Shaheen, raised concerns about Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) orders still being issued against their leaders despite the election schedule being in place.

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He noted that PTI candidates were not receiving nomination papers and were being prevented from submitting them.

Acting Chief Justice Sardar Tariq Masood questioned why the ECP was not taking steps to halt the issuance of MPO orders. Justice Masood stated that an order would be issued to the electoral authority to address all the complaints after reviewing them.

Shoaib Shaheen argued that PTI should be allowed to submit the papers to the Election Commission if the returning officers did not accept them.

The apex court directed the ECP to address all the complaints, and both the ECP and the Attorney General assured the court of their cooperation.

Justice Shah inquired from the Attorney General about a solution to the matter, and the Attorney General suggested that the ECP should seek reports from all inspector generals to ensure that no candidate faced issues.

Justice Masood directed all inspector generals not to harass PTI candidates. PTI’s counsel raised concerns about lawyers being arrested from the ROs’ offices.

Justice Masood noted that many PTI leaders were wanted in different cases, and although they were appearing in respective courts and obtaining protective bails, they were still being arrested.

After hearing the arguments, the Supreme Court disposed of the PTI petition regarding a level-playing field in the upcoming general elections. The case had been raised during the hearing of the cipher case against former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s PTI lawyer earlier that day.

Lawyer Niazullah Niazi informed the court that PTI candidates were not allowed to file nomination papers, prompting Justice Masood to instruct the Registrar Office to fix the case for hearing on the same day.

Niazi mentioned that Umair Niazi’s father’s nomination papers were torn apart, and the election commission had not yet announced the verdict regarding the election symbol.