ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday annulled the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to ban recruitment in government departments till the general elections.
On April 11, the ECP had ordered a hiring freeze in appointments by federal, provincial and local governments to ensure transparency in the upcoming general elections as well as halting implementation of all development schemes taken up after April 1.
The federal and provincial governments had challenged the ECP order in the IHC.
After taking a suo motu notice of the issue, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar had on April 24 given the IHC a week to decide whether the order is legal.
Hearing the case, Chief Justice Nisar had observed that as per Article 218 of the Constitution, it is the ECP’s responsibility to hold transparent elections.
The ECP secretary had informed the apex court that they halted recruitment in government departments to prevent pre-poll rigging and clarified that the federal and provincial public service commissions have been exempted from the order.
The court had then ordered that the Punjab government’s writ petition against the ECP order should be transferred to the IHC where a two-member bench will decide it in a week.
Moreover, Justice Aamer Farooq was directed to head the bench and conduct daily proceedings and until then, the ECP decision would remain in place.
