Islamabad: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday stayed the order of the Lahore High Court to set up an additional election tribunal as well as the April 26 notification of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The Supreme Court ruling came as a five-judge bench heard the EU LHC’s decision to set up eight electoral tribunals to hear election petitions related to national and provincial Assembly constituencies.
The meeting was chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Faez Isa and attended by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokel, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghani and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi.
Today’s SC order is the latest in a rift between the ECP and the LHC on the appointment of judges to election tribunals in connection with the February 8 polls.
The Election Authority has argued that the right to appoint election tribunals in Article 185 (3) of the Constitution and Article 219 read with Article 222 (b) of the Constitution vests in the Election Authority. Supreme Court
The ECP further argued that Article 219 of the constitution does not expressly require the commission to consult the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court concerned with the appointment of an election tribunal or the allocation of territorial jurisdiction to such an election tribunal.
Section 140(3) of the Electoral Act 2017 only requires the Chief Justice of the High Court to consult with the Chief Justice of the Council in relation to the appointment of electoral tribunals, but this does not include the allocation of territorial jurisdiction to electoral tribunals. . The sole power and authority of the European Union is in accordance with section 140(1) read with section 151 of the Electoral Act 2017.
In today’s hearing, Justice Mandokhail said that the electoral body cannot order the presence of judges selected from the LHC CJ.
“You [ECP] cannot choose between judges,” the judge said.
Meanwhile, CJP Isa said LHC CJ is the person who can determine the availability of judges in the Election Court.
In today’s judgment, the court lamented the lack of communication between the electoral body and the LHC and said the two judges notified by the ECP to respond to the six persons nominated by the LHC CJ were “inadequate”.
Noting that it arose after the LHC constituted an additional court, the SC awaited the hearing of this court and referred the matter to the advice of the ECP and LHC justices.
Directing the LHC and the election authorities to consult each other on the matter, the court adjourned its proceedings pending an important consultation on the matter.
ECP is in conflict with LHC
The issue first came to light on February 14 when the ECP sought a panel of judges from the LHC which serves as the election tribunal.
The LHC Chief Justice nominated two judges on February 20, and six more were nominated by the JJ on April 14.
Two of these six nominated judges were notified by the ECP on April 26. However, the election body has given additional names for appointment to the election tribunals of Rawalpindi and Bahawalpur.
However, the registrar of the high court by justice LHC invited the election body to report to the election tribunals made up of judges nominated by the CJ.
Refusing to grant the request of the high court registrar, the poll body said that if it has passed the notification to the election tribunals, it was actually only appointed by the LHC CJ and not as a result of consultation between the ECP. and the Chief Justice – this would contravene Section 140(3) of the Electoral Act.
LHC Justice CJ Malik Shahzad Ahmad constituted eight election tribunals to hear cases related to the February 8 polls, a decision challenged by the ECP in the apex court.
