Polls on unverified lists will be unjust: SC

In response to a statement by the chief election commissioner (CEC) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary, the Supreme Court on Monday said elections on basis of unverified voter lists could not be termed just, fair and in accordance with the law, as required under Article 218(3) of the constitution.
A statement issued by Supreme Court Registrar Dr Faqir Hussain said the ECP was free to hold by-elections subject to what had been observed by the Supreme Court. However, he clarified that an erroneous impression was created during the meeting of the CEC with political parties as well as by the statement of the ECP secretary, giving an impression as if the Supreme Court had stayed the holding of by-elections in the country.
He said the relevant para of the Supreme Court’s January 19, 2012 order showed that the court directed the ECP not to hold by-election on the basis of polluted/unverified voter lists, after deleting 37,185,998 unverified voters by NADRA per their statement before the Supreme Court on July 4, 2011, in the case of Imran Khan vs ECP. He said the court order added that the ultimate focus should be on verified/valid electoral list in order to meet the requirement of the constitution under Article 218 (3) which stipulated that elections should be conducted honestly, fairly and justly in accordance with the law. To fully explain the matter, the court reproduced the relevant para of the order, which says: “It has been informed that the ECP has announced by-elections in some of the constituencies on the basis of prevailing/uncorrected/un-amended electoral lists. It may not be out of context to note that on 4th of July, 2011 NADRA reported before this court that 37,185,998 unverified voters have been removed from the database and thereafter the court directed on the same day to the ECP to expedite the correction of the electoral list and a schedule for the same was also given by it but the ECP failed to do so.”
However, the court said that the date of February 23, 2012 had been fixed. “Therefore, we direct the ECP and NADRA not to hold by-elections against the casual vacancies on the basis of polluted voter list, having 37,185,998 unverified voters as the elections of these constituencies are necessary to be held under the constitution. Therefore, ultimate focus should be on the verified/valid electoral list for the purpose of holding the said elections and elections should be held on the basis of the same in order to meet the requirement of the constitution given under Article 218(3) thereof, which commands that the elections shall be arranged by the ECP honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with the law. The demand of the constitution can only be fulfilled if there is a verified voters list free from any bogus votes,” the court noted.