Daily Times

There’s a lot more than meets the eye in what transpired in the honourable Supreme Court on the case pertaining to the use of bureaucracy as kegs in the election machinery. While a cursory overview might declare it a win for the Election Commission of Pakistan as an extremely brief detour from the training session of polling personnel, it doesn’t take much to appreciate how with one single thumping of the gavel, the Supreme Court has grown even taller in stature. It has managed to pull the proverbial rabbit after months of an impasse with the Lahore High Court. That the ECP still wishes to stay put and spend the entire leeway in accordance with the Elections Act of 2017 had prompted a series of speculative banter about the potential delay in the general elections. For all those drawing parallels with the PIA flights having to play catch up, the judicial notion of sine qua non would have been a nasty surprise. However, deeply embedded within the propaganda is roping in of a mainstream political party as it got accused of becoming a fly in the democratic ointment. In stark contrast to rife allegations about the PTI orchestrating a conspiracy, whose mention in the court’s proceedings has culminated in fiery opposition from the PPP and PML(N), the original petition had beseeched the judiciary to ensure no institute would make use of any available loophole to obstruct the schedule. Any reservations on the composition of the supervisory bodies cannot be equalled to “running away from elections.” The onus now lies on the shoulders of its legal counsel as it is asked to present a credible defence of its own position. As before, the honourable supreme court would decide the case on credible merits. A long string of historic verdicts, made all the more unforgettable by televised transmission, is fast restoring the public trust in the higher judiciary.

Once the legal conundrum gets resolved, it can only be hoped that the regulator will now stay true to the responsibilities of its constitutional mandate. The honourable chief justice may have evaded a major crisis imperilling the fate of elections for now, but February 8 is still weeks away *