Supreme Court overturns LHC verdict, upholds ECP's appeal on Punjab election tribunals

The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) appeal regarding the Punjab election tribunals while nullifying a previous decision made by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on the matter.

The verdict was delivered by a five-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Express News reported on Monday.

The top court had completed the hearings for the case and reserved the verdict, which was announced today.

The chief justice read out the decision, confirming the approval of the Election Commission's appeal against the ruling.

The court's decision was unanimous, with a vote of 5-0 and no dissenting opinions from the judges.

Additionally, CJP Isa noted that Justice Jamal Mandokhail and Aqeel Abbasi had provided an additional note on the verdict.

This decision follows the LHC's rejection on June 12 of the electoral watchdog's request to appoint four additional judges to the Punjab election tribunals.

In response, the ECP sought recourse from the apex court.

Last week, The top court reserved its ruling on an appeal of the ECP against a decision of the LHC regarding establishing eight election tribunals in Punjab, after it was informed that the matter had been resolved.

The court rejected objections on the bench, and expressed the hope that the process of establishing election tribunals would start soon. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa said that decisions on the election disputes should be made promptly.

In the previous hearing, on July 5, the bench had suspended the LHC's decision to establish eight election tribunals until further notice, directing the chief election commissioner and the LHC chief justice to resolve the matter through meaningful consultation.

On May 29, LHC's Justice Shahid Karim ordered the ECP to notify additional election tribunals for Punjab in light of the nominations sent by the high court's chief justice.

The LHC had held that under Article 219(c) read with Article 222(b) of the Constitution, the LHC chief justice had the pre-eminence in the appointment of election tribunals under Section 140 of the Elections Act, 2017.

Later on June 12, the LHC CJ formed eight election tribunals in line with the May 29 order, compelling the ECP to challenge the decision. The ECP had challenged the order in the SC.

The ruling is seen as a significant step in the electoral process in Punjab, ensuring that the election tribunals are adequately staffed to handle electoral disputes effectively.