Questionable validity: SC inquires about fake electoral rolls
SC gives ECP two weeks to submit a report on the constitutional validity of fake electoral rolls.
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court has given the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) two weeks to submit a report on the constitutional validity of fake electoral rolls.
The case was instituted on a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan when the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) discovered that it could not verify some 37 million voters from the record.
Attorney-General Maulvi Anwarul Haq told the court that the four-member ECP has been reconstituted in light of the 18th amendment and once the investigation of fake lists is complete, it would share its findings with the court. The legal status of 45% legislators of the national and provincial assemblies may be called into question as a result.
Nasir Bhutta, one of the legislators’ counsels, contended that by-elections held after the 18th amendment were unconstitutional. “We must abide by the people’s mandate,” the chief justice remarked and adjourned the hearing for three weeks.
The constitutional status of 156 MNAs, 56 MPAs from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 170 from Punjab, 77 from Sindh and 29 from Balochistan may be challenged.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2011.
The Supreme Court has given the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) two weeks to submit a report on the constitutional validity of fake electoral rolls.
The case was instituted on a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan when the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) discovered that it could not verify some 37 million voters from the record.
Attorney-General Maulvi Anwarul Haq told the court that the four-member ECP has been reconstituted in light of the 18th amendment and once the investigation of fake lists is complete, it would share its findings with the court. The legal status of 45% legislators of the national and provincial assemblies may be called into question as a result.
Nasir Bhutta, one of the legislators’ counsels, contended that by-elections held after the 18th amendment were unconstitutional. “We must abide by the people’s mandate,” the chief justice remarked and adjourned the hearing for three weeks.
The constitutional status of 156 MNAs, 56 MPAs from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 170 from Punjab, 77 from Sindh and 29 from Balochistan may be challenged.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2011.