ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain has promulgated an ordinance meant to legally empower the chief election commissioner (CEC) to constitute two benches instead of one to hear and decide cases filed with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Section 6 (3) of the Elections Act 2017 in its original forms reads: “The Commissioner shall constitute benches comprising three or more members of the Commission to hear and decide complaints, applications, petitions or appeals filed before it under this Act.”

Under the ordinance, the word ‘three’ has been replaced with ‘two’. The ECP comprises the CEO and four members — one from each province. Since the total strength comes to five, constitution of bench compring three or more members means practically only one bench can be formed.

Sources in the ECP told Dawn that a summary to this effect had been moved by the commission as it faced problems due to this restrictive provision during the delimitation process.

Though Section 6(1) of the Elections Act reads, “The Commission may authorise the Commissioner or any of its members or any of the officers of the Commission to exercise and perform any of its powers and functions under this Act”, a senior official of the ECP said that senior lawyers consulted by the commission were of the view that the benches comprising officers of the commission if formed while invoking the section would not be able to carry out judicial work. “Same was the view of the ECP’s legal wing,” he remarked.

The ordinance mentions that only one bench can be formed under the existing provision and says the ECP was facing immense difficulty in disposal of higher number of complaints, petitions and appeals through a single bench.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2018