ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday directed Prime Minister Imran Khan and Federal Minister Asad Umar to remove the objections of registrar office in their petition against Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for issuing notices to them.
A single bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah conducted hearing of the petition moved by Imran Khan and Asad Umar and maintained the objections raised by IHC registrar office which had raised objection regarding lack of the biometric on the petition.
Justice Athar remarked that no one had immunity about the biometric facility and the petition could be fixed for hearing on Friday (today) if the objections were removed.
In their petition moved through Syed Ali Zafar Advocate and raised different questions of law involved in this case including whether the ECP can amend and nullify the provisions of Elections Act, 2017 by issuing a Code of Conduct of elections, whether in case of conflict, the provisions of the Elections Act, 2017, overrule any provisions of the Code of Conduct, whether the Commission has power to legislate under the Constitution, whether the Commission has power to declare a provision of Elections Act, 2017 as ultra vires?
The petitioners adopted that under the Constitution and the law, the Commission has no jurisdiction to declare Section 181-A to be ultra vires the Constitution, illegal, void or of no effect. They stated that in the order dated 10/03/2022, the ECP stepped into the shoes of the legislature and considered itself as a supra constitutional legislative forum which can, on its own, decide to supersede and ignore law by passing a Code of Conduct.
They added that it is respectfully submitted that the order dated 10/03/2022 is liable to be declared unlawful and illegal.
They contended that under Article 89 of the Constitution, an Ordinance has the same force as the Act of a Parliament. The Commission is not a court of law and has not been given jurisdiction or power under Article 199 or 184(3) of the Constitution to declare any provision of the Elections Act, 2017 to be null and void. The counsel said, “The revised clause 16 in the Code of Conduct in fact is in clear violation of and contrary to Section 181- A and hence, ultra vires.”
Therefore, he prayed to the court that the order dated 10/03/2022 of the Commission, the amended clause 16 of the Code of Conduct issued in the purported exercise of the powers under Section 233 of the Elections Act 2017 and the notices dated 11/03/2022 may kindly be declared to be illegal, unlawful, void and ultra vies of the Constitution.