The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday dismissed a petition challenging the appointment of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja declaring it non-maintainable.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who heard the case filed by filed by PTI leader Akram Khan Bari, observed that Mr Raja had retired from government service before his appointment as CEC.
The petitioner claimed that Sikandar Sultan Raja was a serving bureaucrat when he was appointed against the key post.
Citing judicial verdicts, he pleaded that a serving bureaucrat could not be appointed against the instant post. Only a retired Grade-22 officer or the top court’s serving or retired judges were eligible for the post, he added.
The chief justice asked the petitioner to satisfy the court as he had not attached any relevant material to prove his case.
The petitioner replied that he had taken information from the website of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The ECP’s lawyer on the occasion presented the retirement notification of Sikandar Sultan Raja before his appointment as CEC. Mr Raja was appointed as Chief Election Commissioner on January 24, 2020 while he retired from service in November 2019, he said.
After hearing arguments, the court reserved the verdict and later nullified the case.