Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday adjourned the hearing of a petition filed by National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in which he challenged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)’s order on NA-122 constituency in the city.
As the proceedings started, ECP’s law officer filed a fresh report in response to court queries on the last hearing on returning officer’s powers. A single bench comprising LHC Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the matter.
However, the counsel for parties sought time to asses their position in the light of the stance taken by the commission.
Sadiq in his petition stated that he was declared returned candidate from NA-122 in the May 11 general election on a PML-N ticket. He said that Imran Khan filed an application before the ECP for public inspection of election record of NA-122 and the commission on June 18 had allowed the application and directed Khan to make another application for examination of documents before the returning officer (RO) concerned.
The petitioner contended that presently the RO did not have any election record because it had been forwarded to the ECP. He said the RO had completed his job and did not have the jurisdiction to conduct proceedings assigned to him by the impugned order of the ECP. He pleaded the court to set aside the impugned order by declaring it void ab initio, illegal and unlawful. The court accepted the request and adjourned the matter until November 21.