Lahore High Court on Friday took notice of the questions being asked by returning officers during the scrutiny of nomination papers of election hopefuls and issued an order to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to refrain from asking any unnecessary questions.
According to details, LHC Judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, in his ruling, said that the returning officers must only ask question strictly related to Article 62 and 63 of the Constitution. He further said that asking irrelevant questions, including questions on religion or the number of wives of nominees, was the equivalent of insulting the courts.
It is pertinent to mention that returning officers of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had raised eyebrows when they were caught on camera asking questions about religion and the ideology of Pakistan. Several candidates had raised objections and ECP officials had defended its returning officers saying that it was within constitutional mandate to do so.