LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday sought assistance from the offices of the attorney general of Pakistan, advocate general of Punjab and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on a petition demanding publication of criminal cases against the parliamentarians on the website of the ECP.

A lawyer filed the petition and also sought implementation of articles 62 & 63 of the Constitution, which deal with the qualification and disqualification of public office holders.

Petitioner’s counsel Azhar Siddique stated before the court that the information commission had been asked to enforce the Right of Access to Information Act 2017 and furnish details of the cases against the parliamentarians but it refused to do so. He said the Indian Supreme Court also ordered its election commission and political parties to publish details of the criminal cases against the parliamentarians.

He argued that the ECP should also be ordered to make the details of cases accessible to the public by showing them on the website.

The counsel further requested the court to seek an explanation from the ECP on what had so far been done to implement the provisions of article(s) 218 and 222 of the Constitution in order to deter such acts in the future that has been fearlessly and brazenly committed by the MNAs, MPAs, members of the Senate and others involved in criminal shameful acts.

Justice Shahid Karim issued notices to the attorney general, advocate general and the ECP for assistance on the issue within a fortnight.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2022