The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday halted a Lahore High Court (LHC) order that suspended the appointment of returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers (DROs) from the bureaucracy and directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to issue the election programme by tonight.
The directions came as Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa dictated the order for the hearing of a petition by the ECP challenging the LHC action. Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Sardar Tariq Masood were also part of the bench.
The development comes a day after the ECP paused a training session for ROs and DROs — an exercise without which polls on February 8 could be in trouble.
The ECP’s move had come in response to an LHC order suspending the electoral watchdog’s notification regarding the appointment of ROs and DROs from the bureaucracy.
Dictating the order for today’s hearing, CJP Isa said: “
ECP lawyer Sajeel Swati came on the rostrum to present his arguments.
The chief justice questioned him whether a larger LHC bench was constituted to hear the matter to which the ECP counsel responded that one was formed for Monday.
Coming to the petition by PTI additional secretary general Barrister Umair Khan Niazi, the chief justice questioned if elections could be halted across the whole country just on the basis of his plea.
Instructing Swati to read out the apex court’s Nov 3 order which had stressed that elections would take place on Feb 8, CJP Isa said: “Shall we issue a contempt notice? … Barrister Umair Khan Niazi’s [petition] is a violation of the Supreme Court order.”
SC’s decision regarding ROs,” she wrote on X, adding that the party’s legal team had begun preparing a petition in this regard.
