LHC seeks replies on transfers under caretaker setup

Court requested to restrain ECP from granting postings approval

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court sought replies on Monday from authorities concerned regarding a plea filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification granting permission to the Punjab caretaker government to transfer officers without seeking prior approval.

The electoral watchdog had given unprecedented blanket permission to the Punjab government for transferring, posting and appointing provincial officers without requiring the ECP’s permission, which was mandatory under Section 230(1)(f) of the Elections Act 2017.

The petition requested that the court restrain the ECP from mechanically granting approval to unwarranted largescale requests of transfers and postings submitted by the caretaker government of Punjab, unless each case of transfer was examined by the ECP under the criteria laid down under the provisions of the Elections Act 2017.

The plea maintains that on January 12, 2022, the former Punjab chief advised the governor to dissolve the provincial assembly, and ultimately the Punjab assembly stood dissolved on January 14, 2023, whereafter the caretaker chief minister Punjab was appointed.

“The biased and controversial caretaker government in Punjab in order to materially affect the elections is not only taking major policy decisions but has also been issuing unwarranted large-scale blanket orders of transfers of officers of the provincial government, autonomous bodies, authorities, public companies and the local government without any expediency or valid justification violating the provisions of section 230 of the Election Act 2017 resulting in material affecting the forthcoming general elections by advancing the interests of the political interests of the petitioner’s political opponents, besides causing huge financial burden on the public exchequer as well,” the petition detailed.

It continued that the largescale transfers of the caretaker government were mechanically approved by the ECP without checking them with regard to the provisions of Section 230 of the Act. Whereas, in several cases, the transfer orders were issued “by the caretaker government without even bothering to obtain prior approval of the ECP”.

“The illegal exercise is going on, despite the fact that in several cases the high court has suspended such unwarranted transfer orders,” it contended.

According to the PTI lawyer, the respondents failed to redress the grievances of the petitioner.

The petition maintained that the “strong and reasonable apprehension of victimization at the hands of the aforementioned controversial officers, specifically expressed through the petitioner’s application to the ECP was proven correct”.

It furthered that the “controversial officers left no stone unturned to victimize the PTI, its leadership and workers in order to materially affect the election by causing every possible hindrance in the conduct of smooth election campaign of the petitioner, in order to give undue benefit to the PTI’s political opponents”.

In a separate case, the LHC reserved its decision on the maintainability of a petition seeking the removal of PTI chief Imran Khan as the party chairperson.

As proceedings commenced, the judge asked if the petitioner was the affected person to which his counsel argued that the petitioner is a voter and citizen of Pakistan.

When asked by the bench if this was the petitioner’s first plea, his counsel replied in affirmative. Muhammad Junaid had contended in his petition that the ECP had disqualified Imran Khan from NA-95, Mianwali in the Toshakhana case.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2023.