PHC to take up plea for polls under judiciary’s supervision

Division bench led by CJ will hear PTI’s petition tomorrow

PESHAWAR:

A special bench of the Peshawar High Court will take up a writ petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to conduct the election under the supervision of the judiciary on Monday (tomorrow).

The division bench comprising Chief Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan and Justice Shakeel Ahmed. On behalf of the PTI, Muazzam Butt Advocate filed the petition in which he has taken the stand that the election should be conducted under the supervision of the judiciary because under the current circumstances, it is not possible to conduct fair and transparent elections under the supervision of the administration, fearing that the elections to be held on Feb 8, 2024 may not be transparent.

The petitioner's counsel has also filed an amendment petition seeking annulment of the appointment of administrative officers as returning officers and the election to be conducted by the judiciary.

On Friday, the PHC had directed the Election Commission of Pakistan and caretaker federal and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governments to respond to the plea of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader for orders to the commission to hold the upcoming elections in the province through judicial officers under the supervision of the judiciary.

Read PHC restrains verdict on PTI election

The petitioner had requested the court to ask the ECP as well as the province’s caretaker government and governor not to interfere in the electoral process for next polls.

He contended that the court should declare that the “enforcement of fundamental rights of citizens should be ensured and for the true spirit of democracy, the citizens be allowed to freely choose their representatives through the election process conducted honestly, fairly and in accordance with the law and that corrupt practices be guarded against”.

The petitioner contented that for fair elections in the province, the entire electoral process should be performed under the watch and supervision of the judiciary, so the process should be directed to be conducted through judicial officers in line with the mechanism provided by the Elections Act, 2017, and rules made under it.

He contended that under Article 218(3) of the Constitution, it was the duty of the ECP to make such arrangements as were necessary to ensure that the elections are conducted honestly, justly and in accordance with the law.

Read more PHC halts ECP decision, awaits PTI’s appeal

Butt, who is also central leader of the Insaf Lawyers Forum, had claimed that the provincial caretaker government couldn’t be trusted for the “honest governance of the election process” as it was acting in consultation with a security agency in disregard to the principle laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Mohammad Asghar Khan versus Mirza Aslam Baig.

He pointed out that under the law, the ECP in consultation with the chief justice of the concerned high court could appoint returning officers and assistant returning officers, who may take all necessary acts for effective conduct of the polls. The petitioner claimed that while the election process had already been initiated and other political parties were permitted to hold gatherings and demonstrations, the provincial government in every tehsil and district in the province had restrained the PTI leaders and workers from holding any party meeting.

He explained the background of the issue, including the appointment of the caretaker chief minister on Nov 12 by the provincial governor after the death of the then incumbent, Mohammad Azam Khan, and said former chief minister Mahmood Khan, who had now made his own party by the name of the PTI-Parliamentarians, was consulted on the matter in disregard to the Constitution.
He argued that for strengthening democracy, it was mandatory to hold free and transparent polls, while Article 218 of the Constitution was also meant for the same point.