Daily Times

A division bench of the Supreme Court (SC) referred the matter of delay in elections in Punjab to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to invoke suo motu jurisdiction, a private TV channel reported on Thursday.

A two-member bench consisting of Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi heard a petition against the transfer of Ghulam Mahmood Dogar as the Lahore capital city police officer (CCPO). During the hearing, the Supreme Court sought a detailed report from Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikander Sultan Raja regarding the obstacles in the way of the Punjab elections.

During the hearing, Raja told the court that he was being “prevented” from exercising his powers and constitutional requirements, as he lamented he was refused security, returning officers and funding for the elections from the army, the judiciary and the executive respectively.

The hearing began with Justice Ahsan asking about why Dogar was transferred despite apex court orders to the contrary. “There were Supreme Court orders, so why was the CCPO still transferred,” Justice Ahsan asked the Punjab advocate general today. “What was the rush to transfer Ghulam Mahmood Dogar?” “With the election commission’s permission, Dogar was transferred for the second time,” the Punjab government’s lawyer responded. Justice Ahsan then asked: “What is the role of the election commission in the change of officers?” Justice Naqvi followed up by observing that the election commission’s role came after the announcement of the elections.

“Due to the caretaker setup in Punjab, permission was taken from the election commissioner,” the additional advocate general (AAG) said. “According to the Constitution, elections are to be held within 90 days after the caretaker setup,” he added. “Then tell me where the election is,” Justice Ahsan asked. “Half of Punjab was transferred,” Justice Naqvi remarked. “Is there any district in Punjab where a transfer has not occurred?”

Justice Ahsan then asked, “Was the election commission not aware of the orders of the Supreme Court?” “The election commission is doing everything except its own job,” he remarked. The court then summoned CEC Raja “immediately”, pausing the hearing for an hour. About an hour later, the CEC appeared in court and the hearing resumed.

Justice Ahsan observed, “The Constitution obliges to hold elections within 90 days. It is the election commission’s responsibility to hold elections. Not holding the elections within the stipulated time will be going against the Constitution. “There is no ambiguity within the Constitution about holding elections within 90 days. Holding transparent elections is only the election commission’s responsibility.” He went on to assert that the “caretaker government cannot make appointments and transfers”, adding that if it intended to make a transfer, it should “submit a request with concrete reasons”.

Justice Ahsan further said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was “obliged to issue an appropriate order after reviewing the reasons”. To this, the CEC responded, “If the court orders, we will stop the transfer (of the CCPO). If we give the election date, it will be going against the Constitution.

“If we act upon one Article of the Constitution, it leads to the violation of another Article,” he said. Meanwhile, the attorney general cited a verdict being awaited from the Lahore High Court as the reason for the delay. “I am being prevented from exercising my powers and constitutional requirements,” the ECP official lamented. “When I asked the army for security [for the elections], I was refused. When I asked the judiciary for permission, they refused it. I asked for money for the elections, I was refused that as well.”

Upon hearing this, the Supreme Court directed CEC Raja to submit a detailed report about the obstacles the electoral body was facing in holding the elections and adjourned the case’s hearing till Friday (today).