SC to intervene if ECP found guilty

ISLAMABAD:

Supreme Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa said on Monday that the apex court will interfere in the affairs of Election Commission of Pakistan only if it is proven that the electoral watchdog has violated the Constitution.

During a full court hearing of the reserved seats case under the chair of CJP Isa, the court directed the ECP to provide details of the reserved seats allotted after the 2018 general elections.

In addition, the court also ordered the ECP to furnish details of the party positions before and after the inclusion of independent MNAs into the political parties.

The ECP counsel said he has four legal objections. Firstly PTI failed to conduct intra-party polls as per law; secondly, the PTI’s ticket bore Barrister Gohar’s signature as chairman PTI; thirdly, PTI did not have a legal structure at the time of awarding the tickets and, fourthly, the organizational structure did not exist due to falsifying intra-party polls.

Justice Mandokhel said the party tickets were issued on December 22, 2023 while the verdict on intra-party polls was announced on January 13, 2024 when Barrister Gohar was the PTI chairman. The ECP lawyer replied that the electoral watchdog had nullified PTI intra-party polls on December 23, 2023.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah pointed out that the ECP decision was suspended on December 26, 2023 while Justice Jamal Mandokhel directed the ECP lawyer to inform the court as to who did the mistake and where it started.

ECP counsel Sikander Mohmand submitted some candidates did not mention the party’s name; hence, such candidates will be considered as independents.

Justice Jamal Mandokhel said the party ticket carries importance, without which a candidate will be deemed an independent. At this, the ECP lawyer said, “You and I are on the same page in this matter.” The judge shot back, “Tear the page…I don’t want to be on the same page.”

The ECP lawyer argued that the party tickets issued by Barrister Gohar attached no legal importance, adding Sahibzada Hamid Raza was the chairman of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and he is still the chairman of the party. He could have issued ticket to himself but he did not do so. He mentioned in his nomination papers that he belonged to SIC which had an alliance with the PTI. He submitted PTI’s party ticket.

Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi said the returning officer had accepted the nomination papers of Hamid Raza. The ECP lawyer submitted that Raza had submitted declaration of ‘PTI Nazariati’ in the affidavit.

Justice Shahid Waheed inquired if the ECP had sought clarification from Hamid Raza before declaring him an independent candidate. The ECP lawyer told the court that Hamid Raza applied for the ‘shuttlecock’ symbol through an application to the ECP, adding as per the record, the party ticket is of PTI, not PTI Nazariati.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah inquired if it is possible that PTI candidates are given three days to join a party. The ECP lawyer replied that the time had expired. The judge observed if the court concludes that the candidates were wrongly declared as independents, the three-day time would re-start.

Justice Minallah observed that the SC verdict had not terminated the registration of any political party, adding the wrong interpretation of the verdict will spoil the entire stance of the ECP. The ECP lawyer said that the SIC did not contest the election nor any of its member emerged as winning candidate.

Justice Ayesha Malik questioned as to why the BAP party was allotted reserved seats in the K-P after 2018 elections. The ECP lawyer replied that allotting the BAP party reserved seats in 2018 was not in line with the law. The judge inquired how come the ECP takes two different positions on the same matter. The lawyer said the incumbent ECP made a decision after hearing all the stakeholders.

Later, the ECP counsel completed his arguments. The CJP remarked a lawyer adopted contradicting stances in the same case.

After the ECP arguments, the court asked Barrister Gohar to come to the rostrum. Justice Mandokhel inquired if Gohar had submitted the party ticket. Gohar replied that he submitted his nomination papers both as a party candidate and as an independent. The ECP, however, showed the court only one form.

“The court’s order was announced at 11 pm and we were declared as independent candidates at 4pm in the evening,” Barrister Gohar told the court. He said a candidate could submit nomination papers from the same constituency, adding there are multiple hopefuls of the party ticket. The candidate, who gets the ticket, is considered as the party candidate. The ECP concealed the nomination papers from the court, Gohar alleged.

Chief Justice Qazi Faez Esa remarked the court has spent considerable time on interpretation of Article 51, asking, “Why we are following the hypothesis.” He added that one’s thinking and ideology cannot be imposed on the Constitution.

The CJP said the verdict should be clear and easy enough that a 10-class student could also understand it. The Constitution and law are not for the lawyers and judges but for the public.

Justice Isa observed the ECP is not an ordinary institution nor it comes under the Supreme Court. First of all, the court will have to determine if the ECP has violated the Constitution then the court will intervene in its affairs, he added.

The CJP remarked the ECP is an autonomous body and the court is not going to take any action against it unless there are clear indications of rigging. None of the losing candidate has ever accepted his defeat. The winning candidate admires the polls as transparent and the losing candidate dubs them rigged.

Justice Isa observed that the government and opposition jointly appoint members of the ECP but none of the parties pointed this out. If the ECP has violated the Constitution then prove it.

Later, the hearing of the case was adjourned till 11:30 am Tuesday. The CJP said the proceedings will continue till 1:30 pm due to the meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council.