Ptitioner submitted that the ECP had on June 18 accepted an application from the PTI chief and ordered the returning officer to inspect the election record. PHOTO: AGENCIES/FILE
The Lahore High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the attorney general of Pakistan and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to assist the court on a petition filed by MNA Sardar Ayaz Sadiq challenging a notification directing the returning officer at NA-122 to inspect the election record.
Advocate Syeda Maqsooma Bukhari, counsel for the petitioner, submitted on Tuesday that the court could not expand the scope of the returning officer’s duties as stated in election laws. If the Election Commission needed any assistance in inspecting the record, Article 220 of the Constitution clearly stated that it was the duty of the executive authorities in the federation and in the provinces to assist the Election Commission in the discharge of its functions, the lawyer added. She argued that any other interpretation by the court would create a parallel judiciary in the country.
Agreeing with the contentions, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial directed the counsel of PTI chief Imran Khan, who lost the NA-122 seat to Sadiq in the general elections, to respond to the points raised by Bukhari at the next hearing on October 25.
Sadiq submitted in the petition that the ECP had on June 18 accepted an application from the PTI chief and ordered the returning officer to inspect the election record. This order was given on the assumption that the returning officer had custody of the election record, but this was not the case, said the petitioner. According to Section 44 of the Representation of the People Act, 1976, the record was to be sent to the ECP after the general elections.
The petitioner asked the court to declare the ECP’s June 18 order to be illegal and unconstitutional.
Imran Khan’s counsel had argued that the Act gave the returning officer the power to inspect the election record and recount the votes, so the petition should be dismissed.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 9th, 2013.
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