SC fixes plea of dissident PTI MPAs for hearing on July 5

• A petition was filed against ECP's decision by 25 PTI dissidents.
• Sources says SC has issued notices to all respondents.
• Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial will hear case, says source.

The Supreme Court (SC) has fixed for hearing the plea of 25 dissident PTI members of the Punjab Assembly against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision of de-notifying them on July 5, Geo News reported.

A petition was filed against the ECP decision by 25 PTI dissident members who had voted for Hamza Shahbaz in the election of the Punjab chief minister.

Following MPAs' vote against the party policy, on May 20, ECP had de-seated the 25 dissident members of the PTI.

According to sources, a three-member bench of SC headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial will now hear the case on July 5, while Justice Ameen ud din Khan and Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar will also be a part of the bench.

As per the sources, the SC has issued notices to all the respondents.

Dissident MPs' votes not to be counted

Earlier, the SC had also ruled that the votes of the dissident members of Parliament (MPs), cast against their parliamentary party's directives cannot be counted.

The court, issuing its verdict on the presidential reference seeking the interpretation of Article 63(A) of the Constitution related to defecting lawmakers, said that the law cannot be interpreted in isolation.

The reference was filed by President Arif Alvi on March 21. The hearings continued for 58 days since its filing.