ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) seeking review of its February 6 verdict on the 2017 Faizabad sit-in by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in Islamabad.
The commission submitted in its review petition that the apex court’s observations with regard to the electoral body will have an adverse impact on its performance. “If the observations are maintained, they will have an impact in the long run,” it said.
ECP said it acted against the TLP as per law, which is evident from its record. On August 16, 2017, the TLP was served a notice to submit details of its accounts with a warning that upon failure, its registration will be revoked, it added.
The verdict’s Para No.4 negated measures taken by the commission, it said, requesting the apex court to expunge observations against ECP from the verdict.
The top court in its verdict had observed that Article 17(3) of the Constitution demands political parties to account for the source of their funds and Section 211 of the Elections Act, 2017 calls of the provision of details of election expenses to the ECP.
However, the court said, TLP didn’t account for its funds and election expenses according to ECP. The electoral body surprisingly showed helplessness to act against the party because the law according to it is cosmetic in nature.
The bench said ECP should not disabuse itself that constitutional and legal provisions are cosmetic as the responsibility placed on the ECP by the Constitution and the law must be fulfilled.
The Constitution also empowers the Election Commission of Pakistan to get requisite information from any executive authority.
