ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court set aside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s order to disqualify Member of National Assembly Adil Bazai, and raised concerns about the ECP’s methods for determining facts.
A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and comprising Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi on Thursday, heard an appeal of Bazai against the ECP’s verdict.
The ECP had disqualified Bazai under Article 63-A, following a reference filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif.
The written order said: “The impugned judgments passed by the Election Commission of Pakistan are set aside, and the declarations made by the Party Head of PML(N) that the appellant had defected from the said political party are not confirmed. Accordingly, the appellant’s membership of the National Assembly from seat NA-262 stands restored as an independent member, not as a member of the Parliamentary Party of PML-N.”
Bazai contested the general elections from Quetta’s NA-262 as an independent candidate, and after winning joined the PML-N within three days of issuance of the notification. The PML-N president had moved the commission after Bazai reportedly voted against party lines during the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
As per official record, Bazai is part of the PML-N, but was often found criticising the government. According to law, an independent candidate cannot switch sides after submitting an allegiance affidavit to the ECP, yet, Bazai has been seen siding with the PTI and SIC members.
At the outset, Bazai’s lawyer Taimur Aslam told the court that that once the matter had reached the ECP, proceedings started the very next day. “We went to the Balochistan High Court to provide the relevant affidavit,” he told. However, the ECP did not provide them affidavit.
Justice Ayesha Malik replied that the ECP had declared the document to be confidential and therefore could not be handed to them.
During the proceeding, the bench raised several questions regarding the election commission’s procedures.
Justice Ayesha Malik asked what kind of inquiry the ECP had conducted to verify the facts in the Bazai case. Justice Aqeel Abbasi remarked that it was not acceptable to de-seat a person just because a letter from a senior official had arrived.
Justice Mansoor pointed out that the criteria for disenfranchising an entire constituency should be stringent.
Justice Ayesha also called on the ECP’s Director General of Law to appear before the court and questioned why the ECP had accepted one affidavit as valid without conducting any inquiry.
She asked whether the ECP could simply reject one affidavit and accept another without thorough verification. Justice Ayesha also inquired whether the ECP considered itself above the law and whether it had disregarded the courts and magistrates.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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