ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court on Friday suspended the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) verdict that suspended a notification by the electoral watchdog regarding appointment of bureaucrats as returning officers (RO) and district returning officers (DROs).
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and consisting of Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah conducted an emergency hearing on a petition filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (EC) against the LHC order.
The LHC had issued the order on a petition filed by PTI lawyer Umair Niazi. The petitioner had expressed distrust in appointment of bureaucrats as ROs and DROs.
At the outset of the hearing, the ECP lawyer pleaded the court to declare the LHC ruling unconstitutional and null and void. He said the electoral watchdog had a short time to issue schedule for the next general elections.
At one point, the CJP termed the petition filed in the LHC a violation of the apex court’s order for holding general elections in the country.
The three-member bench ruled that LHC’s Justice Baqar Najafi misused his powers by issuing the order for suspending the ECP notification, saying the high court gave the decision in haste.
The top court also issued a contempt of court notice to the PTI lawyer, who had filed the petition in the LHC against the appointment of ROs and DROs. It said the petitioner was from the same party, who had moved the SC for elections in the country.
No one will be allowed to derail democracy in the country, the SC ruled as it barred the LHC from proceeding on the petition against the appointment of ROs and DROs.
The apex court ordered the ECP to issue the election schedule today (Friday).
On Wednesday night, the LHC ruled against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification to hold general elections in Punjab with involvement from the bureaucracy.
LHC Justice Ali Baqar Najafi heard the plea and ruled in favour of the petition filed by the PTI against the appointment of returning officers from bureaucracy for the upcoming elections.
The court, in its comprehensive order, pointed out several issues in the electoral watchdog’s decision. Justice Najafi also suggested formation of a larger bench on the petition against holding elections in Punjab by the executive and sent the file to the LHC chief justice.
Following the order, the ECP stopped a three-day training session for ROs, raising fears about possible delay in the polls.
