SC upholds ECP decision to delist APML

ECP notes APML has no elected office bearers, rendering it 'virtually non-existent'

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court has upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision to delist the All-Pakistan Muslim League (APML), founded by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, heard the appeal challenging the ECP's decision.

The bench observed that it seemed the APML was not singled out, and similar action had been taken against other political parties. The court pointed out that the petitioner's counsel was unable to produce any documents confirming the submission of statements of accounts required by the ECP.This failure further supported the finding that the necessary statements were not provided to the ECP.

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"Learned counsel was repeatedly asked to show us any illegality or unconstitutionality in the impugned order of the ECP dated 19 September 2023 but was unable to do so and there is no justification to set it aside. Accordingly, the impugned order of the ECP is sustained and this appeal is dismissed,” read the written order authored by CJP IsaThe ECP, in its order, had stated that there were no elected office bearers within the APML, rendering the party virtually non-existent.It ruled that due to non-existence of the elected office bearers in accordance with the party constitution and the provisions of the Act of 2017, the party has been unable to provide valid consolidated statements of accounts of last four years which is requirement of the Article 17(3) of the Constitution read with Section 210 of the Act of 2017.

According to the ECP, the APML failed to fulfil the prerequisites outlined in sections 209 and 210 of the Act of 2017, essential for the enlistment of a political party under section 202.“In exercise of powers conferred upon under Article 218(3) read with section 202(5) of the Act ibid, APML, as a political party is hereby delisted and the applications for allocation of symbol submitted by unauthorized and self-styled office bearers are rejected. Resultantly the symbol Eagle becomes available for allocation in accordance with law," the ECP stated.