ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has sent a formal written request to the Supreme Court (SC) asking the apex court to overturn the ban imposed by Islamabad High Court (IHC) on new recruitments in government departments and continuation of work on ongoing development projects ahead of the upcoming general elections.
On April 11, the election commission had restricted the federal and provincial governments from making new appointments, pushing forward development plans approved on April 1 and after, and allocating/transferring funds for ongoing projects.
The step was taken supposedly to discourage pre-poll rigging by providing financial incentives to different constituencies from government resources.
Later, the provincial governments had also knocked on the apex court’s door to look into the matter, which then referred the issue to IHC. The apex court had directed IHC on April 24 to give a ruling on the matter within a week.
An IHC bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, had heard the arguments of a counsel for the provincial governments. The counsel had pleaded that ECP had tried to cut into the executive’s powers by ordering the ban two months before the completion of the constitutional tenure of the federal and provincial governments. The provinces also argued that the decision had caused inconvenience to the general public.
The counsel said that ECP had the power to take such steps only after it had issued the election schedule. On the other hand, the election commission defended the move by saying that the step had been taken in the greater public interest to ensure that elections were held in a free and fair environment. This argument was also reiterated by ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob before the apex court.
In addition, the chief justice of Pakistan had also inquired from the secretary whether the commission had the power to impose such a ban. On this, the secretary had replied that the April 11 notification was issued in the light of the top court’s decision in the Workers Party case.
The secretary also mentioned an apex court judgement in the above-mentioned case, where the court had directed ECP to ensure that polls were conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with the law.
The order had directed the commission to guard the election process against corrupt practices in accordance with Article 218(3) of the Constitution.
