IHC gives parliament 10 days to finalise ECP appointments

Chief Justice Athar Minallah seeks a report on December 31

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday gave the parliament 10 more days to resolve the matter over two appointments in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).



An IHC bench – headed by Chief Justice Athar Minallah – resumed hearing of a petition challenging the appointment of two ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan through a presidential decree.

CJ Athar Minallah heard the petitions of the PML-N leaders, Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha, Murtuza Javed Abbasi and Jahangir Jadoon. Deputy attorney general Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah on behalf of the government. The National Assembly secretary, who also appeared in the court today, requested the IHC for additional time.

“It is an important matter and therefore, we will give more time,” said Justice Minallah while adjourning the hearing and seeking a report on December 31.

He said, “The parliament is supreme and it has to resolve this matter. The leader of the house and the opposition leader should come forward and resolve the matter.”

“ECP is an important institution. It needs a person who has the trust of the people. Cannot you find any such person?” asked Justice Minallah and added, “We still trust the parliament that it will be able to come up with a solution.”

In one of the previous hearings, the IHC bench had suspended the notification of the appointment of Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui as ECP member from Sindh and Munir Ahmed Kakar as ECP member from Balochistan – both PTI nominees.



The appointments were made by President Arif Alvi on August 22 after a disagreement between the treasury and the opposition on candidates. The appointments were, however, challenged by PML-N MNAs Murtaza Javed Abbasi and Dr Nisar Cheema.

Justice Minallah had directed the custodians of the two houses of parliament to resolve the issue and submit a report on the appointment of two ECP members.