Unusual twist: Court recalls warrants for ECP secretary

PTI petitioner says poll body admitted returning officers had not carried out scrutiny of the candidates rightfully

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court on Thursday recalled bailable arrest warrants for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary after the poll body’s reply to a petition seeking fresh security for all parliamentarians was submitted.  

A worker of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Javed Badar, filed the petition, claiming that the poll body in a report submitted before the apex court admitted that the returning officers had not carried out scrutiny of the candidates of the 2013 election in terms of Articles 62 and 63.

The petitioner said that the commission had taken the plea that the scrutiny of the candidates could not be held due to “non cooperation of government institutions”. According to him, many ineligible candidates were elected to the assemblies due to inefficiency of the ECP.

The court had sought a reply from the ECP secretary. But even after it had issued four notices, there was no response from the ECP secretary.

Subsequently, the court issued bailable arrest warrants for the ECP secretary.  However, later, a law officer submitted the reply on behalf of the poll supervisory body and sought an apology.  As a result, the court recalled the arrest warrants and adjourned the matter till February 10.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2015.