The Supreme Court of Pakistan has dismissed a review petition challenging its January 13 ruling on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) intra-party elections, upholding the original decision.

A three-judge special bench, headed by the Chief Justice and including Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Munib Akhtar, heard the petition. The PTI had requested the formation of a larger bench to review the case.

PTI’s lawyer Hamid Khan argued that the matter should be referred to the Judges Committee to form a larger bench, suggesting the current three-judge bench was not suitable to hear the case, citing a previous 13-judge bench decision in the Sunni Ittehad Council case.

Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that this was a review petition and the court needed to examine the law, noting that review petitions typically raise questions about the legal standing of court decisions. The Chief Justice questioned why this point wasn’t raised earlier.

Hamid Khan responded by urging the court to review a specific paragraph from the Sunni Ittehad Council and Election Commission case decisions. The Chief Justice responded that the court would not review that decision, as it was a separate matter.