The Supreme Court on Wednesday scolded Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Secretary Ishtiak Ahmed Khan for attempting to malign the judiciary by writing a letter to the chief election commissioner (CEC).
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, while referring to the contents of the secretary’s letter addressed to the CEC, expressed his annoyance, saying, “Everyone has got the liberty to express thoughts within certain limits.” “Casting aspersions on institutions is very bad. For the last 64 years, the tussle in the country has been over rule of constitution or ultra constitutionlism, but at the end, everyone wants rule of constitution,” he added. The secretary defended his position by saying that he had written the letter to CEC to seek retirement, and did not mean to malign the apex court. A three-member bench headed by the chief justice resumed hearing a constitutional plea moved by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan seeking error free electoral lists, clubbed together with a pending plea of late Benazir Bhutto, former chairperson of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The secretary said whatever he had mentioned in his letter carried by newspapers was in line with the opinions expressed by electronic and print media for freedom of thought and expression.