SC removes another hurdle to polls

ECP's biggest test to ensure fair elections, says Justice Minallah

ISLAMABAD:

The apex court has unequivocally cleared the path for the timely conduct of general elections, asserting that once the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announces the election schedule, objections to the delimitation of constituencies shall be deemed inadmissible.

A three-member bench, led by Acting Chief Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah, declared null and void a Balochistan High Court (BHC) verdict that had contested the delimitation of two constituencies.

Last Monday, the BHC had entertained petitions challenging the delimitation of two provincial assembly constituencies situated in Sherani and Zhob districts within the largest yet sparsely populated province of the country. Responding promptly, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) sought recourse to the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the BHC decision.

In its ruling, the bench noted that after issuance of the election schedule, objections could not be raised to delimitation of constituencies.
An election schedule outlines the timetable of key dates and events related to an upcoming election. It includes various important milestones and activities leading up to and following election day.
The schedule typically includes dates for voter registration deadlines, nomination filing deadlines for candidates, campaign periods, polling day, and the announcement of election results.
The ECP on December 15 issued the much-awaited election schedule for the general elections slated for February 8, 2024, after intervention of the Supreme Court.

During the hearing, Justice Minallah noted that the authority granted to the ECP by law could not be utilized by a high court. When the election schedule is announced, everything comes to a halt, he said.

The judge noted that the biggest challenge for the polls oversight authority is to ensure transparent elections on February 8. He highlighted that if the Supreme Court endorses the BHC order with regard to altering delimitation of the constituencies, then courts will be flooded with similar petitions.

Justice Shah also noted that all challenges related to constituency delimitation had become ineffective after the announcement of the election programme.

“The entire electoral process cannot be affected to provide relief to an individual. We need to draw a line and set a limit on this matter,” he said.

The acting chief justice—Sardar Tariq Masood—wondered why “everyone” wanted to prolong the election process.  “Let the elections happen,” he said. The bench later set aside the BHC order.

A three-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa on December 15 stayed a Lahore High Court (LHC) order, suspending the ECP’s notification with regard to appointment of polls supervisors—district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs) and assistant returning officers (AROs)—from civil bureaucracy,

The court had noted that the LHC “with a stroke of pen” had stopped a total of 2,753 DROs, ROs and AROs from performing their duties “thereby derailing the process of elections”.

Issuing a contempt notice to the PTI’s lawyer who had filed petition in the LHC, the SC had noted that while ordering the ECP to announce the election date in consultation with the president, the apex court had stipulated that, “no one should be allowed to put forward any pretext to derail democracy”.

A three-member bench on November 3 directed the ECP to set the election date after consulting with President Dr Arif Alvi.

Later in that day, the ECP, which had earlier announced holding the next general elections in the last week of January without specifying its exact date, issued a notification announcing that the president and the chief election commissioner had agreed to hold the general elections on February 8.