ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday filed a reference against the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
The PTI on August 4th this year after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s verdict on prohibited funding had filed a reference against the incumbent CEC, but later on withdrew it to add more evidence and highlight further legal aspects.
The reference filed through PTI vice president Senator Ejaz Chaudhry also included an ‘audio recording of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’ — in which en masse resignations of PTI lawmakers from the National Assembly in April were discussed, along with other documents.
The reference alleged that “the discriminatory attitude of the respondent has been noticeable time and again since 125 members of the National Assembly resigned their seats on April 9, which was accepted by former deputy speaker (acting as speaker) Qasim Suri.”
“Their resignations were published in the gazette on April 13 and sent to the ECP, but they were not de-notified, whereas the current National Assembly Speaker, by doing an illegal and unconstitutional act, accepted the resignation of 11 members out of 125 and sent the reference to the CEC. He took no time to de-notify them.”
The CEC had also been opposing the introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs) so that the PTI’s opponents “are able to use unfair means during elections,” the reference alleged.
The reference pleaded with the SJC to order the removal of the CEC on account of the “commission of continuous and deliberate misconduct.”
The reference also alleged that on July 29, a delegation of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) met the CEC and four other members of the ECP at his office to ‘pressure’ him into announcing the verdict in the prohibited funding case.
It was a consequence of that meeting that the ECP decided to deliver the verdict on August 2, ruling that the PTI had taken prohibited funding. Thus the CEC allegedly violated his oath, the reference argued. It contended that the ECP’s decision was illegal, unlawful, and coram non judice. The PTI would challenge the order in court, it added.
The reference further argued that the CEC had violated the ECP’s code of conduct and failed to fulfil his constitutional obligations.
The code of conduct for judges of the superior judiciary applied to the chief election commissioner as well, the PTI said, adding that a high court judge never discussed pending cases with any person or institution.
“The CEC must be removed from one of the most respectable and sacred constitutional posts,” the reference said.
Moreover, the reference said CEC Raja had dismissed many PTI applications in the prohibited funding case, including a request to conduct a joint hearing in the funding cases of PTI and other parties.
It said the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had provided relief to the PTI, asking the ECP to extend equal treatment to all political parties and to hear their cases with due diligence and conclude these within a reasonable time.
Instead, the ECP announced a verdict in the PTI’s case only and kept the cases of other parties in abeyance, the reference said and described it as “absolute discrimination”.
After filing the reference, Ejaz Chaudhry while talking to the media said, “I have paid my debt to the nation by filing the reference. The decision now rests with the Supreme Judicial Council.”
Alongside him, PTI leader Maleeka Bokhari alleged that the CEC had “persistently given decisions against the PTI.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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