The National Judicial Policymaking Committee (NJPMC) on Saturday allowed judicial officers to hold the upcoming general elections as returning officers in the ‘supreme national interest’.
A meeting of the NJPMC, chaired by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, discussed at length the issue of engaging judicial officers as returning officers, as requested by the ECP to ensure that the polls are conducted in a transparent manner. The apex court had earlier decided that judges would not be allowed to engage in election duties because of allegations of rigging in polls. However, the ban has been lifted only for the upcoming general elections.
The meeting was attended, among others, by the chief justices of all the provincial high courts, the Islamabad High Court, the Federal Shariat Court and representatives of the ECP.
According to a statement issued by the Supreme Court, the committee agreed to relax the restrictions in the supreme national interest. It decided to provide the services of an adequate number of judicial officers to the ECP for their appointment as District Returning Officers (DRO) and Returning Officers (RO) for the forthcoming elections, the statement added.
The NJPMC observed that, since the administration of justice was the prime responsibility of the judiciary, therefore, the judicial officers appointed as DROs and ROs should primarily perform their judicial duties first and execute their election duties during extra hours so that the litigants do not suffer.
The committee asked the ECP to facilitate the polling staff and provide all possible logistic and financial support to the DROs and ROs to meet the immediate expenditure and contingencies during the election process.
‘Free elections constitutional requirement’
Chief Justice Chaudhry also reiterated that free and fair elections were a constitutional requirement.
“Holding of transparent and fair elections will pave the way for the strengthening of democracy in the country,” he was quoted as saying. It was also reported that Chief Justice Chaudhry asked the ECP to use all options and resources for holding free and fair elections in the country.
The top judge of the country also noted that, “Unfortunately, in the past, the involvement of the judiciary in the election process had adversely affected judicial work. Therefore, at the time of the framing of the National Judicial Policy, it was considered appropriate to keep aloof the judiciary from the election process and focus all its energies and time on the administration of justice.”
The ECP secretary informed the NJPMC that, to enhance the credibility of the election process, the services of employees of the federal, provincial and autonomous bodies have been requisitioned for mix deployment.
He said that, to ensure free and transparent polls, a complete ban on the display of arms and aerial firing would be imposed during campaigning and polling. He also assured that relevant legal provisions of the Elections Law and Arms Ordinance would be invoked in this regard. A comprehensive security plan to protect the DROs and ROs, polling staff and voters have been devised and would be implemented with the help of the police and other administrations, he stated. The secretary said that the ECP was considering the possibility of monitoring voting through Close Circuit Televisions in and around the polling stations, particularly in sensitive areas.
After the approval of the Code of Conduct, it will be published in all languages to provide information to the voters, the secretary added. Instructions issued by the Supreme Court to monitor election expenses, campaigns and a ban on election camps near polling stations were being strictly followed in the by-elections.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2012.
COMMENTS (8)
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Everybody is working in the national interest but, surprisingly, no one seems to know what the national interest is.
@Alimuddin: Tainted you say, who isn't? The question is who's less. Judges didn't themselves took this decision, Election Commission requested them, remember ECP is headed by a man whose reputation is unmatched and who is trusted by all parties.
The richest and much bigger country like USA has a max of 9 SC no matter what. However, in Pakistan we have too many SC judges and yet there are cases waiting to be heard for decades! All the previous elections have been held under the working or retired judges and yet many of them were questionable. Too many people making too much money while doing too little.
Ecp must deploy army in khi to conduct free and transparent elections atleast three months before
This time all the judges will be on the field wearing James Bond style black glasses like Justice Shakirullah Jan, acting as the polling agents of selected candidates. Arsalan Iftikhar will soon start accepting tenders from the bidders.
Who wants this tainted institution to conduct elections? This man, IMC, likes to pat himself in the back every day!
What???