ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to postpone the schedule for holding by-polls on April 10 in NA-75, Daska.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench, consisting of Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Muneeb Akhtar, issued the direction since senior counsel Salman Akram Raja, representing PML-N’s Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar, needed more time to complete his arguments.

Moreover, the court also has to hear the ECP as well as the PTI candidate Ali Asjad Malhi’s counsel Mohammad Shahzad Shaukat.

The court had taken up a challenge to ECP’s Feb 25, 2021, decision of ordering fresh by-polls in NA-75, Sialkot (tehsil Daska).

On Feb 25, ECP had ruled re-election on March 18 in the entire NA-75 Daska constituency after suspicions that the results may have been falsified.

PML-N counsel needs more time to complete arguments while court also has to hear lawyers of ECP, PTI candidate

The decision was given on an application by PML-N candidate Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar. Later, the ECP further extended the by-elections to April 10.

At the fag end of Thursday proceedings, when ECP’s counsel Sanaullah Zahid wondered whether the court was going to suspend commission’s Feb 25 direction to hold fresh by-elections in the entire Daska tehsil, Justice Bandial observed that the court had a great respect for the ECP since it was performing its functions under Article 218 of the Constitution.

The next hearing date will be announced later since the members of the bench were not available next week.

Salman Akram Raja argued that the powers of the ECP should deem to be that of the tribunal, which could also regulate its own procedures for deciding a matter at hand, adding the tribunal did not derive its authority from Article 218 of the Constitution though the ECP did.

Under Section 9 of the Elections Act 2017, the commission can decide the matter and issue orders and hold an inquiry and such an inquiry does not mean holding a trial. Besides, this section also provides express authority to the commission to hold a fresh election.

The counsel contended that it was a very serious matter that 20 presiding officers who were being escorted by the police and carrying election bags went missing, adding a question arises what perception the missing of these election officers had created which ultimately vitiated the entire election process.

The counsel emphasised that the 20 presiding officers had not just lost their way because they were escorting by the police.

Interestingly, the cell phones of the presiding officers were shut off while the wireless sets of the police went off.

At this, Justice Bandial wondered from where he got the information about the presence of the police escort, adding this was a very serious allegation also, suggesting the counsel to argue how the incident could have materially affected the poll results.

The counsel cited the Feb 20 press release which was issued by the commission expressing their helplessness and that the administrative hierarchy was non-cooperative. Moreover, the presiding officers appeared in the morning the other day along with the polling bags.

Justice Bandial however agreed that the police escort was provided because of the election material, including the election bags, were with the presiding officers.

The counsel who was advancing his arguments through video link from the Lahore Registry of the Supreme Court contended that the commission decided to conduct re-polls in the entire constituency after a detailed hearing in which replies were sought from both the contesting candidates and during the entire process none of the parties ever raised any question regarding violation of natural justice.

The arguments were given when Justice Bandial observed that the minimum requirement of doing natural justice seems not taken care of by the commission which requires that the parties should have been confronted before cancelling the entire election process.

Justice Bandial also wondered at what point of time the commission confronted the parties about the prospect of holding re-polls in the entire constituency, especially when the complaint concerned about discrepancies in 23 polling stations.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2021