LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Monday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to notify the members on the Punjab Assembly’s reserved seats after accepting a plea registered by the PTI.
The PTI had approached the LHC against the ECP’s decision deferring the issuance of a notification on the reserved assembly seats till the by-elections on 20 vacant seats. The five reserved seats fell vacant after the ECP disqualified four members of the provincial assembly who joined the Punjab assembly on reserved seats on PTI’s symbol over their defection to the PML-N for the election of the new chief minister.
The PTI had filed a petition in the LHC on May 28 requesting it to direct the ECP to notify the five new MPAs and “summon [them] personally”. Subsequently, the high court had given the ECP a deadline for June 2 to decide on the matter. The electoral watchdog had, however, decided that the notification would be stayed until by-elections were held.