PESHAWAR: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday adjourned until January 13 the hearing of a case concerning an alleged violation of the electoral code of conduct by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Shahnaz Umar Ayub.
The matter was taken up by a five-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. During the hearing, counsel for the chief minister, Ali Bukhari, submitted a written response and also moved an application seeking dismissal of the case on the grounds that it was not maintainable.
ECP officials, however, pointed out that the application challenging the maintainability of the case did not carry the chief minister’s signature. The bench directed the counsel to refile the application after fulfilling the legal requirement.
The commission also instructed the defence to submit a valid power of attorney to formalise the representation before the next hearing.
Following these directions, the ECP deferred further proceedings to January 13 to allow the respondents to complete the required documentation.
