The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of a code of conduct violation case against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Shahnaz Umar Ayub until January 13. The case was heard by a five-member bench of the Election Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja. During the proceedings, counsel for CM Sohail Afridi, Ali Bukhari, submitted a written reply and also filed an application seeking dismissal of the case on the grounds of non-maintainability. 

However, officials of the Election Commission pointed out that the application challenging the maintainability of the case did not bear the signature of the chief minister. In response, the Election Commission directed the counsel to re-submit the application with the required signatures. The Chief Election Commissioner further instructed that a valid power of attorney must also be submitted before the next hearing to regularise the representation. Following these directions, the Election Commission deferred the hearing to January 13 to allow the respondents to complete the necessary legal formalities. 

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)