LAHORE - Punjab Minister Abdul Aleem Khan has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging an order passed by the Election Commission of Pakistan on an election petition filed by MNA Ayyaz Sadiq.

The LHC will take up the writ petition tomorrow. Vide its order dated 01-10-2018, the ECP had directed the Regional Election Commissioner, Lahore to file a complaint against Aleem Khan in the Court of Sessions under Section 464, 468 and 471 of the PPC. The high court office has marked the writ petition to Justice Jawad Hassan in which the Punjab minister pleaded that the ECP passed the impugned order without touching the merits of the case as well as without perusing and appreciating the importance of written arguments so advanced; and without keeping in view the importance and sensitivity of the matter.

Through Advocate Azhar Siddiqe, the Punjab minister made the Election Commission of Pakistan and MNA Sardar Ayaz Sadiq as respondents in the petition.

The petitioner states that the ECP, without going into the merits of the case and without providing him with an opportunity of being heard, rejected his election petition vide its order dated 01.02.2016 at the initial stage. The ECP ousted itself to adjudicate upon the matter in detail and declared that the election tribunal is the proper forum to resolve the issues raised by him under Section 103-AA of ROPA and Article 19-A of the Constitution, he states.

In the order, the ECP while granting permission to the PML-N MNA also made a “controversial and un-warranted” observation entirely in contradiction with the earlier observations, he states.

Later, Ayyaz filed a contempt petition on 10-03-2016 before the ECP against Aleem Khan seeking that ECP to proceed against him and others in accordance with law account of filing false affidavits along with the election petition resulting in the order passed by ECP while rejecting his election petition.

The petition states the order passed by the election tribunal and the contempt petition filed by Ayyaz Sadiq were challenged before Lahore High Court Lahore, its being without jurisdiction, arbitrary and in un-regulated manner. 

The writ petition of 2016 was heard on 17-06-2016 and decided by Ms. Justice Ayesha A Malik who declared the act of the ECP to proceed on the contempt petition as illegal and against the mandate of law.

It states that the High Court order dated 17-06-2017 is a well-reasoned, detailed, self-explanatory order without any ambiguity or shadow of doubts in any manner. The court unequivocally declared the observation made by the election tribunal without following any process of law was supported by no reasoning. The court also declared the proceedings initiated by the ECP on the contempt petition against the petitioner was purely illegal and against the mandate of law.

Later, the petition says, the ECP and the PML-N lawmaker and former National Assembly speaker filed intra-court appeals before the High Court and both the appeals are still pending before the division bench of High Court, Lahore without any operative order of any sorts whatsoever. Therefore, the High Court order dated 17-06-2017 still holds the field.

The petitioner pleaded that the court may kindly declare the ECP order illegal, unlawful and beyond the jurisdiction of laws of Election Commission of Pakistan.