ISLAMABAD/LAHORE  -  The Lahore High Court (LHC) has suspended the Election Commis­sion of Pakistan (ECP) notification appointing district returning of­ficers (DROs), return­ing officers (ROs), and assistant returning of­ficers (AROs) from the executive for rendering duties during the gener­al elections scheduled to be held on February 8.

Presiding over the hearing a day earlier, LHC’s Justice Ali Baqar Najafi sent the matter to the LHC’s Chief Jus­tice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti for the constitu­tion of a larger bench.

Justice Najafi was of the view that the impor­tance of the legal inter­pretation of the constitu­tional provisions having a legal effect is deeply connected to the current­ly raised national issue.

“Undoubtedly, the holding of general elec­tions costs this poor na­tion billions which may be wasted if the election results are not accepted by major political par­ties. The intention of the Election Commission to conduct a free, fair, impartial election is yet to be transformed into reality by pro­viding equal opportunities to the candi­dates for electioneering and voters to vote with their choice without fear of anyone,” the judge observed yesterday.

“In the present scenario general elections may not give the desired results which may undermine the future of democracy in our country,” the court stated further.

In his judgment, Justice Najafi, said, “On the factual ground, the apparent absence of a level playing field for the political party of the petitioner is visible to all and has also been seriously noted by many independent groups. With the top political leadership in jail or gone into hiding, the electioneering by his political party would be a big ques­tion mark,” Justice Najafi observed.

The petition was filed by Barrister Umair Khan Niazi, PTI’s additional secretary gen­eral and focal person on legal affairs to for­mer chairman Imran Khan and the PTI, chal­lenging appointments of DROs, ROs and AROs with the claim that the general elec­tions could not be conducted transparently, fairly or freely in the presence of these offi­cers from the branch of the state.

However, the law officer strongly opposed the contentions of the petitioner’s counsel and requested the court to dismiss the peti­tion. ECP’s counsel also requested the court to dismiss this plea as non-maintainable.

Following the court order, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) suspend­ed the ongoing training of District Return­ing Officers (DROs) and Returning Officers (ROs). An ECP spokesman stated that the LHC has suspended the ECP’s notification dated December 11, 2023, related to the appointment of 142 District Returning Of­ficers (DROs), 859 Assistant Returning Of­ficers (AROs), and Returning Officers from the executive for the upcoming general elec­tions 2024. The comprehensive training for District Returning Officers (DROs) and Re­turning Officers (ROs) began on Wednesday last. Senior officers from the Election Com­mission conducted training sessions, focus­ing on election procedures, rules, and other administrative aspects.

The commission has scheduled a one-day training session for 142 District Returning Officers in all four provincial headquarters on December 16. This includes 40 officers from Punjab, 36 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 36 from Balochistan, and 30 from Sindh.

Likewise, 859 Returning Officers (ROs) are undergoing a two-day election train­ing at their respective divisional levels from December 13 to 15. This compris­es 441 ROs from Punjab, 160 from Khy­ber Pakhtunkhwa, 191 from Sindh, and 67 from Balochistan. However, the ECP re­jected the allegations of any planning to delay the upcoming polls, claiming that it has completed all necessary arrangements to conduct the polls. In reaction to the PTI blames about delaying the polls, the Com­mission rejected these claims. “These are unfounded and baseless claims which are aimed at misguiding the people,” said the election regulatory body in a statement is­sued here.

The ECP clarified that the polls will take place on February 8 and that all prepara­tions have been made.