Electoral rolls: ECP, NADRA reprimanded over missed deadline

SC blasts the two institutions for their failure to finalise electoral lists by Feb 23.

ISLAMABAD:

Terming it a serious violation of orders, the Supreme Court sought on Wednesday written explanations from the Election Commission of Pakistan, its secretary and the National Database Regulatory Authority (Nadra) for their failure to finalise electoral rolls in time. The court had earlier set February 23 as the deadline for the purpose.

“To change the timeline without consulting Supreme Court is an absolutely illegal act taken by the ECP and NADRA,” Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said, while heading a three-member bench of the apex court.

He added the issue will not be taken lightly and he would not allow the commission to go above the directions of the court.

The court observed that NADRA and the ECP mutually decided to extend the deadline for the completion of electoral lists, while ignoring the standing orders of the court.  “We would not allow ECP and NADRA to take such step unilaterally,” the bench observed.

The chief justice said that the issue is not an internal matter within the three institutions and is related to 180 million people of this country. He observed: “After the 20th Constitutional Amendment, the election commission is now our domain and we can ask why [the ECP and NADRA] did not comply with our order.”

The court observed that there could be severe consequences of this misconduct of the ECP and NADRA. “For the last two years, the ECP could provide us corrected voter lists of only 10 constituencies,” the chief justice observed.

Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, another member of the bench, said that the case was heard on December 21, 2011, but no one bothered to inform them about the need of such modification.

“A violation of court orders has become the fashion,” he added.

Counsel for NADRA Afnan Kundi told the court that the authority was a service provider which completed all its tasks successfully as per agreement with ECP.

The court observed that the issue was not as simple as NADRA’s lawyer was portraying it. “You have taken money for the purpose and you were legally bound to complete your work on time,” the chief justice said.

Hamid Khan, counsel for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, submitted that the ECP and NADRA wilfully disregarded the court’s instructions and judgments passed time and again for the completion of electoral lists.

Vote right to overseas Pakistanis

Attorney General of Pakistan Maulvi Anwarul Haq told the court that the government was speedily working on modalities to make possible the procedure of a vote-casting mechanism for overseas Pakistanis. However, he informed that there are some technical, financial and secrecy issues involved in providing such facilities.

Hamid Khan was of the view that financial issues should be considered secondary because to cast a vote is the constitutional right of the citizens.

The court asked the attorney-general to submit a written reply by the government in this regard so a final decision could be made.

28 lawmakers cleared

The court discharged its notice served to some 28 members of Parliament and provincial assemblies elected in the by-election under the incomplete election commission, saying that they now have legal cover after the 20th constitutional amendment signed by President Asif Ali Zardari last night.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2012.