ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday adjourned hearing till today on an appeal of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against restoration of PTI’s election symbol ‘cricket bat’.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Musarrat Hilali heard the appeal of ECP. During the course of proceedings, the CJP inquired from the PTI’s lawyer regarding the document of appointment of members of its election commission for intra-party elections.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa said that the Supreme Court will not “take over” the responsibilities of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Justice Faez, responding to the arguments presented by PTI counsel Hamid Khan, observed that a “very clear line” of demarcation exists between the functions of a statutory body and of a constitutional body. “If they’re doing their job, we won’t take over their job [or] how to do it [or] how better to do it,” said the Justice Isa. The PHC annulled the ECP’s ruling revoking the PTI’s cherished electoral symbol, citing irregularities in the party’s internal polls. In its short order, the high court declared that the electoral body’s order was “illegal, without any lawful authority and of no legal effect”. The court also instructed the ECP to publish the certificate submitted by the PTI after its internal polls on the commission’s website. As the hearing commenced, the counsel representing the ECP, Makhdoom Ali Khan, came to the rostrum. CJP Faez asked him whether the high court’s written order had been issued, to which he replied in the negative. After reading out the PHC order restoring the party’s ‘bat’ symbol, he maintained that the electoral watchdog had not received any notice of the PHC order. The CJP said he had not read the case file either. The counsel urged the apex court to adjourn the hearing till Monday when asked if he was ready to present the case and added that the ECP will issue electoral symbols on Saturday. However, CJP Faez said that the SC was willing to hear the case on Saturday and Sunday as adjourning the hearing would mean the PHC order would have to be suspended. The ECP’s counsel then sought time till Saturday to prepare for the case.
Makhdoom maintained that the PTI was supposed to hold the intra-party election in 2022 and the party had been issued a notice by the election commission for not holding the polls according to PTI’s constitution. Justice Mazhar asked about the process for appointing the party’s chief election commissioner, to which Makhdoom replied that Jamal Ansari was the previous CEC and Niazi took over the role later. “The election commission is not just a quasi-judicial body. It is a constitutional body,” observed the CJP. He added that the two main functions are regulating the affairs of political parties and the other function is to hold free and fair elections. When asked by Justice Isa regarding the other members of PTI’s election commission, the ECP counsel informed the court that no other member apart from the CEC was appointed. CJP Isa then asked PTI’s counsel, Hamid Khan, if the information was accurate, to which he said it was not. The CJP then inquired regarding documents about the appointment of other members of the PTI’s electoral body. Hamid said that he too required time to prepare for the case and that he would present arguments against the ECP’s appeal over its non-maintainability. Makhdoom countered that the party’s constitution regarding its election commission was not “legally correct”. When then the bench asked Hamid if the same was true, he replied that it was not. Hamid reiterated that the electoral watchdog’s appeal was not maintainable. The CJP instructed him to first present his arguments. However, the PTI counsel contended that a respondent has to file an appeal and not the ECP and reiterated that only the affected party can appeal against the verdicts but not the election commission.