ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, on Wednesday, questioned why the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is not holding election in the Punjab despite the Lahore High Court (LHC)’s order.
The LHC on February 10 had ordered the ECP to announce the date for elections in the Punjab without delay. A three-judge bench, headed by the chief justice, heard the petitions of 25 dissident MPAs of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the verdict of the ECP to disqualify them for polling vote to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Hamza Shehbaz Sharif for the position of chief minister of Punjab.
At the onset of the hearing, the chief justice inquired from the DG (Law) of the ECP, “Why are you (ECP) not holding election (for the Punjab Assembly).” The DG responded on Monday they had a meeting with the Punjab Governor (Balighur Rehman), and his response is that they (the ECP) may take legal course for the implementation of the judgment. The governor further said that he had no role in the dissolution of the provincial assembly.
Justice Ayesha A Malik questioned whether the constitution binds the ECP to consult the governor for holding election in the province. She further stated that the ECP is an independent and constitutional institution.
At that point, Justice Athar Minallah said; “Might be the LHC had directed the ECP to consult with the governor.” The DG (Law) affirming Justice Minallah’s statement said that it is written in the LHC’s order to consult the governor.
The LHC’s order states; “The ECP is directed to immediately announce the date of election of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab with the notification specifying reasons, after consultation with the governor of Punjab, being the constitutional head of the province, to ensure that the elections are held not later than 90 days as per the mandate of the Constitution.”
At the conclusion of the case, the chief justice said the petition has become infructuous as the Assembly has already dissolved.
In May last year, around 25 PTI MPAs had approached the Supreme Court against the ECP requesting the court to set aside the ECP’s order declaring that the PTI’s dissenters, who voted PML-N leader Hamza Shehbaz as chief minister of the Punjab, are ceased to be the members of the Punjab Assembly.
The ECP on May 20 had cancelled the membership of 25 PTI dissidents as member of the Punjab Assembly over defection.
It was their contention that directions were issued not as per Article 63A and no show cause notice was issued. The issuance of formal direction by the party head is one of the pre-requisites for making a declaration under clause (b) (i) of Article 63A. Issuance of direction before making a declaration is mandatory and not directory.
They stated that there is a distinction between the party head and the parliamentary party. Party head denotes a single member, while the parliamentary party constitutes number of members of the party. Directions are required to be issued by the parliamentary party and not by the party head.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023