Articles 62, 63: ECP directed to act against defaulters

‘The proceedings could hamper the process of elections’.

LAHORE:

A Lahore High Court (LHC) full bench on Thursday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to take action against candidates who have defaulted on tax and government dues.

The bench headed by Justice Ijazul Ahsan directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit records of 1,329 candidates with pending appeals.

The bench was hearing a petition seeking implementation of Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution in order to keep defaulters of tax and government dues, as well as those with fake degrees and dual nationalities, out of the election process.

Earlier an FBR official told the bench that it had provided records of over 600 candidates to the ECP.

The petitioner’s counsel, Azhar Siddique, said that out of the 600 candidates, at least 14 were tax defaulters. He said the ECP had not taken any action against these candidates.

He identified the 14 as: Usman Ibrahim, Muhammad Shahbaz Khan, Muhammad Usman Saeed, Rana Asif Tauseef, Rana Zahid Tauseef, Dildar Ahmad, Muhammad Tayab Mir, Saifullah Sayal, Gulzar Ahmad, Hafiz Shabbir Ahmad, Muhammad Arshad Tarar, Khizar Hayat Virk, Nadeem Khadim, and Shafqat Ali. The ECP’s counsel stated that the general elections were round the corner and the commission was determined to complete the election process. He said the proceedings in the petition could hamper the process of the election.

Justice Ahsan, however, observed that the role of the ECP was not only limited to the conduct of the polls. He said the ECP was also responsible for making the process transparent.

The bench directed the ECP to take action against the defaulters.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2013.