CJP expresses his disapproval with the PHC’s order to remove RO

ISLAMABAD:  The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a Peshawar High Court (PHC) order suspending the appointment of the PK-91 returning officer (RO) – a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly constituency – was invalid.

Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa stated in his remarks that the tactics being used show that some people do not want elections to be held in the country, adding that he could not understand how and why such orders were issued.

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He questioned why the appointment of a RO was relevant to the petitioner, on whose request the provincial top court had cancelled the appointment made by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), which had filed a petition with the Supreme Court to have the orders declared null and void.

“Is he someone’s relative?” The chief justice inquired and observed why such petitions should not be subject to a hefty fine. “Do you want elections to be canceled?”

Another member of the bench, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, stated that the PHC orders would halt the scrutiny of 19 nomination papers submitted for PK-91 in Kohat, a district located just south of Peshawar, from which the southern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa begins.

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The chief justice, on the other hand, stated that the RO was appointed after the person who had previously been assigned the task became ill. He noted that the PHC did not even bother to notify the ECP before canceling its decision.

It is one of the most recent Supreme Court decisions to validate the authority of the ECP – a constitutional body tasked with managing election-related matters throughout the country.

Previously, the Supreme Court overturned a single-member bench Lahore High Court (LHC) order aimed at halting the appointment of administrative officers as returning officers and other election staff – a swift move followed by the ECP’s announcement of the February 8 polling date.

Later, the Supreme Court (SC) expressed its displeasure with a Balochistan High Court (BHC) decision to change the delimitation of two provincial assembly constituencies, claiming that the ECP was the sole authority to carry out the exercise.