SC gives IHC one week to check legality of ECP ban on recruitment

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  • CJP refuses to take salary until PWD salaries are released

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday gave the Islamabad High Court (IHC) one week to decide whether the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision of banning recruitment in government institutions is legal.

The ECP, on April 11, issued a statement regarding a ban on hiring made by federal, provincial and local governments to ensure transparency in the upcoming general elections.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar and comprising Justices Ijazul Hasan and Umar Ata Bandial heard the case. The CJP observed that as per Article 218 of the Constitution, it is the ECP’s responsibility to hold transparent elections.

The ECP secretary informed the apex court that they halted recruitment of government jobs to prevent pre-poll rigging and clarified that the federal and provincial public service commissions have been exempted from the order.

The court ordered that the Punjab government’s writ petition against the ECP’s order should be transferred to the IHC where a two-member bench will decide it in a week.

Justice Aamer Farooq will head the bench and conduct proceedings daily, it stated further, adding that until then, the ECP decision will remain in place.

The court also ruled that any province which wants to challenge the decision may file a writ in the IHC.

‘CJP REFUSES TO TAKE SALARY’:

Hearing a separate case, CJP announced not to take his salary till the salaries of the Public Works Department (PWD) employees were released.

During the case proceedings, the CJP referred to the additional registrar and stated,”Don’t deposit income cheque in my account.”

The CJP remarked that he will ensure that the salaries of all employees are released. “Only then will I ask my staff to deposit the cheque in my account,” he added.

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