ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday turned down Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhary’s petition challenging the appointment of Nisar Ahmed Durrani as Member of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). A single bench of IHC comprising Chief Justice of IHC Justice Athar Minallah conducted hearing of the petition invoking the constitutional jurisdiction of the court under Article 199 of the Constitution and seeking a writ of quo warranto.
The IHC bench noted in its written judgment that the petition is not competent and even otherwise the court would have exercised restraint because the Constitution has prescribed the manner in which a Commissioner may be removed from his office. It added, “It is not a case in which this Court is inclined to exercise its jurisdiction vested under Article 199 of the Constitution. The petition is, therefore, accordingly dismissed in limine.”
The PTI leader informed the bench that it is an admitted position that Nisar Ahmed Duran was appointed as a Member of the Commission pursuant to the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Committee constituted under Article 213(2B) of the Constitution. The bench said that sub article (2) of Article 215 explicitly prescribes the manner in which a Commissioner can be removed.
