ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice-led Supreme Court (SC) bench Friday night suspended the Lahore High Court (LHC) ruling, suspending the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) notification on appointment of returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers (DROs) from bureaucracy.
The apex court also directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to issue the election schedule by tonight.
A three-judge Supreme Court’s bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood heard a petition filed by ECP late on Friday against the LHC yesterday’s verdict. The electoral watchdog filed the petition after a meeting between the CJP and the Chief Elections Commissioner.
The development comes a day after the ECP paused a training session for ROs and DROs — an exercise without which polls on February 8 could have been in trouble.
The ECP’s move had come in response to an LHC order suspending the electoral watchdog’s notification regarding the appointment of ROs and DROs from the bureaucracy.
The high court order, which was issued on a petition submitted by the PTI, seemingly brought the electoral process to a standstill, causing widespread concern among political parties — including the petitioner PTI — regarding general elections.
While announcing the verdict, LHC’s Justice Ali Baqar Najafi had referred the PTI petition to the chief justice with a request to constitute a larger bench to decide the matter.
In its petition in the high court, the PTI had contested the appointments of bureaucrats to act as DROs and ROs for the upcoming general elections and sought the appointment of officials from the lower judiciary for the poll exercise.
The hearing
CJP Isa ruled that the LHC order stood suspended and additionally halted all proceedings on the PTI petition in the high court.
He said the LHC judge had intervened the operations of electoral officers “with a mere stroke of a pen†and had “failed to realise†that they would be performing their duty throughout the country.
He said the LHC judge had acted “well beyond†the high court’s territorial jurisdiction and “in undue haste at the eleventh hourâ€.
The top judge rebuked PTI’s Barrister Niazi, adding that he was expected to be cognisant of the Constitution and the law but also read the Supreme Court’s Nov 3 verdict which said that “no one should be allowed to, on any pretext, derail democracy.
“However, one individual appears to have done just that and it is indeed a matter of considerable regret that he claims to belong to a political party.â€
He ordered for the PTI plea to be forwarded to the apex court to determine its maintainability, saying that the SC would hear the petition itself if it deemed it appropriate. “The petition as filed appears not to be maintainable,†the top judge observed.
CJP Isa also instructed the ECP to “do its job†and issue the election schedule by tonight.
The top judge also ordered that a show-cause notice be issued to PTI’s Barrister Umair Khan Niazi, seeking an explanation as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him.
The hearing was subsequently adjourned for an indefinite time after notices were issued to the federal and provincial governments and the ECP petition was admitted for hearing.
Earlier, ECP lawyer Sajeel Swati came on the rostrum to present his arguments.
The chief justice questioned him whether a larger LHC bench was constituted to hear the matter to which the ECP counsel responded that one was formed for Monday.
Coming to the petition by PTI additional secretary general Barrister Umair Khan Niazi, the chief justice questioned if elections could be halted across the whole country just on the basis of his plea.
