The ECP had disqualified 25 dissident MPAs of the PTI on May 20, 2022 on the grounds that they had voted for PML-N’s Hamza Shehbaz in the election for Punjab chief minister against the party line and defected.The disqualified MPAs then petitioned the Supreme Court against the move and the ECP through Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja, PTI chairman Imran Khan and the PTI’s parliamentary leader in Punjab before it was dissolved, Sibtain Khan, were cited as respondents in the petition.A three-member Supreme Court bench — consisting of the CJP, Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Athar Minallah — heard the PTI MPAs’ pleas today and dismissed them for being “ineffective”.During the hearing, the pending Punjab elections came under discussion in which CJP Bandial asked ECP Director General (Law) Muhammad Arshad about the commission receiving directives from the Lahore High Court regarding the Punjab elections.“What is the election commission now doing after the [Lahore] High Court’s order,” Justice Bandial asked.To this, the ECP official replied that the ECP held discussions about it with Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman yesterday but the “meeting minutes have not been received yet”. He added that the governor would “maybe take the legal route on the matter”.At this, the CJP asked: “Why is the commission consulting the governor on the election dates?”Justice Malik also asked why there was a need to “hold consultations for the elections”.Justice Minallah said: “Perhaps the [Lahore] High Court ordered the election commission to consult the governor.” At this, the CJP observed: “If it is the high court’s order, then the election commission may consult.”In a tweet today, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry referred to the CJP’s remarks and said they had “to a great extent, failed the conspiracy to delay the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections and violate the Constitution”.He added, “If the election commissioner still goes against the directives, then there should be strict action taken against him.”