PTI rejects retired judges’ appointment in election tribunals

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) core committee on Friday rejected the appointment of retired judges in the election tribunals, announcing that it will not pursue poll rigging matters if the cases are fixed before them in election tribunals.

The committee’s statement has come just days after acting President Yousaf Raza Gilani promulgated the Election (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024, which the government tabled in the National Assembly on Thursday.

Through the ordinance, the government defended the appointment of retired judges in election tribunals because the workload of the high court makes it difficult for the serving judges to spare time for swift adjudication of election petitions.

As such, the statement of object and reason stated, "It is appropriate to restore the original provision of section 140 of the Election Act of 2017 so as to make the retired judges of high courts eligible for appointment as members of the election tribunal for hearing of election petitions in respect of elections to the National Assembly, the Senate, and Provincial Assemblies".

It added, "It is desirable for consistency to make retired district and sessions judges and retired additional district and sessions judges eligible for appointment as member of the election tribunal for hearing of election petitions in respect of the election of a local government."

The committee further stated, “Appointments of retired judges for election tribunals are completely unconstitutional, illegal and the foundation of the destruction of the entire process of justice-based decisions on electoral petitions,” adding that it rejects the same.

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At first, PTI alleged that the chief election commissioner and the members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) “rigged” the elections by installing returning officers of their choice, saying the “enemies of democracy” were now making plans to get decisions of their choice from the tribunals by appointing retired judges.

Then, it announced that it would not recognise the appointment of retired judges in the tribunals by the Election Commission of Pakistan, saying the party “will not pursue the cases fixed before them”. The party also strongly condemned the de-listing of PTI’s intra-party case by the ECP for the second time without any justification.

Subsequently, the party has decided to raise its voice against the “biased, unconstitutional and illegal decisions” of the chief election commissioner and commission’s members inside and outside the Parliament. Meanwhile, the party also condemned the alleged delay in providing justice to PTI founder Imran Khan and transferring the Iddat case to another court when it was at its final stage.

During the National Assembly session on Thursday, PTI-SIC chief whip Amir Dogar had chided Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar when he reminded him that the government has recently issued two ordinances, one pertaining to electoral reforms and the other to NAB ordinance, asking how would he respond to it.

Additionally, Dogar questioned that the law minister used to oppose any remand beyond the 14-day limit, however, the government has increased it from 14 to 40 days, claiming that all this was done to target Imran Khan, who is currently in jail.

Responding to Dogar, Tarar said that a copy of the Election Act, which the parliament had finalised after 41 meetings in 2017, and the meeting minutes should be tabled before the house. “I’m saying it on the floor of the house that even if a comma or full stop is changed, I should be held responsible for that as we have only restored that act,” Tarar said.

Referring to the 2018 assembly, Tarar said that the assembly had removed the clause allowing the appointment of retired judges in the election tribunals, but the incumbent government has changed that by including it again. “If I’m making a false claim then I will resign here right now,” Tarar reiterated.

On National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendments, Tarar reminded Dogar that Imran Khan was currently arguing in a case related to it before the Supreme Court, saying the PTI founder was asking the top court to keep NAB empowered with a 90-day remand period. “You should at least have a single stance,” he remarked.