Supreme Court nullifies LHC’s Punjab election tribunal appointments

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Monday nullified the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) June 12 verdict, accepting the ECP’s plea against the formation of election tribunals in Punjab.

LHC Chief Justice formed eight election tribunals to adjudicate petitions related to national and provincial assembly constituencies in the February 8 general elections.

Later, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) challenged the order in the apex court asserting that it held the authority to form the tribunals, not the LHC.

A five-member bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, in its majority 5-0 verdict today declared that a decision made by a single bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) cannot be considered a judicial precedent.

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa announced the verdict, reserved on September 24, by a bench comprising Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi. Justice Jamal Mandokhail wrote the additional note.

“The LHC did not consider the absence of a meeting between the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the LHC Chief Justice, which would have altered the decision,” the verdict read.

The reserved verdict mentioned that Article 213(3) of the Constitution only provides the ECP the authority to appoint the Election Tribunals for the trial of election petitions under this Act. “The Commission shall appoint as many Election Tribunals as may be necessary for swift disposal of election petitions,” section 140 of the Elections Act, 2017 read, cited in the verdict.

The hearing on the electoral watchdog’s appeal regarding the formation of election tribunals in Punjab was held in the Supreme Court (SC) on Sept 24.

At the outset of the hearing, petitioner Salman Akram Raja’s lawyer Advocate Hamid Khan objected to CJP Isa’s presence on the bench.

The irate CJP asked Raja to get himself separated from the case if he wanted and asked Attorney General Mansoor Awan to keep reading the order of the previous hearing.