Ban on recruitments, development work: IHC sets aside ECP's notification

Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday set aside a notification of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which banned development work, recruitments and postings in government departments. A divisional bench (DB) of IHC comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb after hearing the federation petition nullified the ECP notification dated April 11.
The federation moved the petition through secretaries of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform and cited ECP secretary as respondent.
It was adopted in the petition that the ECP through issuance of a notification dated April 11 imposed ban on all kinds of recruitments in any ministry, department, division or institution of the federal government or any other department of provincial and local government.
"Further, the said notification has put at halt all development schemes, which have already been approved with effect from first April 2018 like, health, education, installation of gas pipelines, supply of electricity, roads, carpeting, water supply schemes etc with the effect that any of such schemes shall not be executed by the federal, provincial or local governments' authorities," said the petition.
It was contended in the petition that the ECP is responsible to conduct election honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law, thus imposing a ban on all kinds of recruitment is illegal, without jurisdiction and void ab initio.
Therefore, in view of the above submissions, it is most respectfully prayed that the said ECP notification may be nullified as having been issued without lawful authority and of no legal effect.