Supreme Court rejects ECP’s request to stay LHC Supreme Court decision on constitution of election tribunals

• Qazi Faez Isa states that presidential ordinances are an insult to Parliament and says if ordinances are to be issued, Parliament should be suspended.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the formation of election tribunals by the High Court in Lahore.

The two-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Isa and Justice Naeem Afghan heard the Election Commission’s appeal. Commission counsel Sikandar Bashir and PTI lawyer Salman Akram Raja appeared before the court.

After hearing the arguments of all the parties, the court rejected the ECP’s application and referred the matter to the Supreme Court Committee for the constitution of a larger bench.

During the hearing, Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa observed that issuing presidential ordinances was an insult to Parliament and in this case Parliament should be suspended.

The lawyer of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) then stated that the Constitution allows the issuance of such regulations.

During the hearing before the Supreme Court on the appeal of the ECP regarding the constitution of eight election tribunals, the counsel for the Election Commission argued that the constitution of tribunals was within the jurisdiction of the Commission under Article 219(c) of the Constitution.

The Commission had written to all the High Courts on February 14, seeking lists of names of judges for appointment of tribunals. The Lahore High Court on February 20 gave two names and these judges were appointed as members of the Election Tribunal. Two more judges were appointed on April 26, and there was no dispute over the formation of four tribunals.

The Chief Justice asked why the Chief Election Commissioner and the Chief Justice of a High Court could not meet to resolve the issues and criticised the tendency of making everything a contentious issue in Pakistan. He noted that there was also a dispute between the President and the ECP over the election dates. The Chief Justice said that direct communication between the Chief Election Commissioner and the Chief Justice could have resolved the matter.

Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan noted that there were no disputes with other high courts except the Lahore High Court, while the proceedings before the Balochistan High Court were almost completed.

On June 12, the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, Malik Shahzad Ahmad, ordered the establishment of eight election tribunals. The Election Commission of Pakistan challenged the decision in the Supreme Court.