Daily Times

Removing any further obstacles in the path of general elections scheduled for February 8, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that no objections can be raised against the delimitation of constituencies after the release of the election schedule.

The order was passed by a three-member apex court bench presided by acting Chief Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah on a petition by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The plea by the commission had raised reservations on two constituency changes by the Balochistan High Court (BHC). Justice Minallah asked how a court could use the authority that lawfully lies with the ECP. The three-member bench set aside the order by the provincial high court and accepted the ECP’s appeal.

“All challenges pertaining to constituencies have been rendered ineffective as the election schedule has been released,” Justice Shah maintained during the hearing today. Referring to the previous pleas and challenges against the election procedures, Justice Shah remarked that a line has to be drawn and a limit needs to be set in this regard. The acting chief justice said that he could not fathom why everyone wanted the polls to be delayed. “Let the polls take place,” he said. “If a decision is given on this [ECP’s] plea, then there would be a flood of petitions in the Supreme Court,” added Justice Minallah and further said that everything comes to a halt once the election schedule is announced.

The electoral watchdog’s biggest challenge was to ensure ‘transparency’ in elections, he added. The BHC had made changes to two constituencies in Zhob and Shirani. The ECP had then filed an appeal in the SC against the high court’s decision. On Sunday, the ECP resumed the training of district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) across the country in line with the Supreme Court’s order.

According to the commission’s spokesperson, 144 DROs and 850 ROs are currently under training by senior ECP officers. The spokesperson had revealed that the training would be completed by December 19. On Friday, the apex court took up an appeal moved by the ECP against the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision to suspend the appointment of RO and DROs from the executive.