As former premier Imran Khan skipped appearance before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday, the ECP ordered the reissuance of a notice to him over the violation of election code of conduct in campaign for the by-polls and adjourned hearing on the notice till October 3. A four-member ECP bench, headed by ECP Sindh Member Nisar Durrani, conducted hearing on the notices issued to Imran Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Mehmood Khan over relentless use of the state resources and machinery in campaign for the by-polls. No one appeared before the ECP bench on behalf of Imran Khan, whereas, the lawyer for KP Chief Minister Mehmood Khan appeared before the ECP bench and argued that the Charsadda district monitoring officer had also issued a notice on the same issue.
“How can hearing of the same issue be conducted at two forums?” he raised a question. At this, the ECP Balochistan member said, “We have issued notices over violation of the election code of conduct in different constituencies. The state machinery and helicopter have been used relentlessly. The entire machinery of the province is in the hand of the chief minister. This case has been sent to us by the Joint Provincial Election Commissioner.”
Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP