ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday suspended the decision of Lahore High Court (LHC) which stayed the appointments of returning officers and district returning officers from the bureaucracy.
The apex court also directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to fulfill its constitutional obligations and issue the schedule for general elections on the same date.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood heard an appeal of ECP against the LHC decision of December 13.
The court also sought the petition from LHC which was filed by Barrister Umair Niazi who was a member of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), and said that it would hear the plea itself if deemed appropriate.
In its order, the court said that the petitioner could only approach the SC but both the applicant and the judge ignored the decision of the top court. It also served notice to Barrister Umair Niazi and instructed him to explain why a contempt of court proceeding shouldn’t be initiated against him.
The order said that the top court had ordered elections on February 8 and the PTI was also among the petitioners in that case about the general elections.
It said that the ECP’s lawyer stated that the LHC had passed its order on December 13, and stayed the appointments of ROs and DROs. According to the ECP, the elections couldn’t be conducted on the said date if the decision of LHC were upheld.
The Commission further said that the learned judge of LHC decided the petition himself and sent the file to the Chief Justice to make a larger bench.
The court said that according to the ECP, the single-judge bench issued the order exceeding the jurisdiction of the LHC. It said that no one would be allowed to derail the democratic process and violate the orders of the top court.
According to the ECP’s counsel Sajeel Sawati, there was a contradiction in the high court’s order. The notification regarding the ROs and DROs was suspended while sending the case to a larger bench. The LHC stopped 1011 DROs, ROs and AROs from working and did not even notice that the officers had to serve all over the country.
The lawyer said that Barrister Umair Niazi was a member of a political party which had approached the top court for elections.
The court, therefore suspended the verdict of LHC and directed the ECP to issue the election schedule tonight (Friday night).