The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) ruling, suspending its order about the appointment of a returning officer (RO) for a provincial assembly constituency. Irfanullah was appointed RO for a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa constituency – PK-91 Kohat II. Advocate Afnan Karim Kundi filed the appeal on behalf of the electoral body under Article 185(3) of the Constitution against a verdict the PHC gave on December 27, The News reported Friday. The complainants submitted the December 25 notification to the PHC, whereby the Election Commission substituted the returning officer for the KP constituency, after which the court suspended the notification above while issuing notice to the ECP. In its appeal, the ECP questioned whether the impugned order of the high court amounted to interfering with the constitutional and statutory public duties of the ECP concerning the appointment of ROs under Article 218(3), read with Section 51 of the Elections Act 2017, and as such no interim relief could be granted by way of suspension of the ECP notification dated December 25, 2023, substituting the RO. Whether the jurisdiction of courts is not barred under Section 236 of the Elections Act, 2017, the ECP questioned, adding as to whether the impugned order of the high court was liable to be set aside as it amounted to derailing the election process. The ECP questioned whether the high court could suspend the ECP notification without first issuing notice to the ECP and without explaining that there existed a valid reason for the substitution of the earlier notified returning officer with another official which w, which was on medical grounds. The ECP submitted that the candidates for an election did not have a vested right in their nomination papers scrutinised by a particular returning officer, furnishing them locus standi to invoke writ jurisdiction of the high court in that regard.
ECP moves SC against PHC ruling on RO suspension
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) ruling, suspending its order about the appointment of a returning officer (RO) for a provincial assembly constituency. Irfanullah was appointed RO for a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa constituency – PK-91 Kohat II. Advocate Afnan Karim Kundi filed the […]
مضمون کا ماخذ : ڈاگ ہاؤس
