LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday directed the Election Commission (ECP) to apprise it about the mechanism, material or information utilised by returning officers while rejecting and accepting nomination papers of election candidates in Punjab.

Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah also sought details of appointments made by the federal and Punjab governments after the ban imposed by the ECP on Jan 22.

The judge issued the directive during the hearing of a petition seeking implementation of articles 62 and 63 and challenging appointments made by the federal and provincial governments in violation of the ban.

The judge had already restrained the State Bank’s Deputy Governor, Mohammad Ashraf Wathra, from working as he was appointed after the ban.

He had also restrained returning officers in the province from putting irrelevant questions to candidates during scrutiny of nomination papers.

On Monday, advocate Pervez Hassan, counsel for the SBP, argued that the ban did not apply to the central bank. However, if the commission insisted, the deputy governor was ready to relinquish the charge.

The judge asked a counsel to seek written instructions from the ECP in this regard. In case the commission said the deputy governor could not be appointed, it would provide evidence to establish that appointment of Mr Wathra amounted to “pre-poll rigging as political bribe”, the judge said.

The standing counsel and representatives of the ECP said every candidate who filed nomination papers underwent mandatory scrutiny by the Federal Board of Revenue, National Accountability Bureau and SBP.

At this Justice Shah directed the ECP to furnish complete list of candidates from Punjab who had undergone verification by the aforesaid authorities along with result thereof and whether the returning officers relied on that information in deciding the nomination papers.

The judge will resume the hearing on Tuesday (today).

Petitioner Munir Ahmad said if the record showed the decisions were rushed through just to meet the deadline of March 16, they should be declared void ab initio without any legal effect.

He has filed the petition through his counsel Azhar Siddique and sought directives for the ECP to conduct the May 11 elections in a fair way in accordance with law and also to guard against corrupt practices.

He has requested the court to direct the ECP to apply provisions of the articles 62 and 63 and the People’s Representation Act-1976 in letter and spirit.