MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Supreme Court suspended a High Court order on Monday that granted interim relief to the PTI in a registration dispute stemming from theElectionCommission`s refusal to register the party over its financial records.

The suspension will remain in effect until July 2. Chief Justice Raja Saeed Akram passed the interim order on an application filed by the Election Commission under Order VI, Rules 1 and 2 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1978.The commission sought ex parte ad interim relief while its petition to appeal the High Court`s June 23 order remains pending.

PTI counsel Yasir Safeer Mughal appeared voluntarily before the court on Monday and requested an adjournment, stating he had not been able to properly prepare the case.

The court accepted his request and directed the registrar`s office to schedule the application for a hearing before the full court on July 2.

Pending that hearing, the chief justice orderedthat the operation of the High Court`s June 23 order, to the extent that it granted interim relief, would remain in abeyance.

According to the order, the court took into account the overallfacts and circumstances of the case, the affidavit filed in support of the application, and the settled principles governing the grant of interim relief.

Those principles include the existence of a prima facie arguable case, the balance of convenience, and the likelihood of irreparable loss.Tariq Naqash