After the refusal of chief election commissioner to administer oath from the two newly appointed members of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from Sindh and Balochistan, their appointment has been challenged in Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Jehangir Khan Jadoon Advocate, who has filed the petition, made the President, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, secretary Ministry of Law and Justice, the two new members of the ECP and Election Commission as respondents.
He stated that the appointment of both the members of the ECP - Khalid Mehmood Siddiqui from Sindh and Munir Ahmed Kakar from Balochistan - was against the spirit of Constitution. He prayed the court to nullify the notification regarding appointment issued on August 22 and stop implementation on the notification.
President Arif Alvi had appointed Khalid Mehmood and Munir Kakar as members of ECP from Sindh and Balochistan after opposition and government didn't reach consensus on the issue, he petitioner said.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) former Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza on August 23 refused to administer the oath of office to the newly appointed members of the ECP, saying their appointment was against the Constitution.
In his letter to the ministry, the CEC had observed that the appointment of ECP members was not in accordance with the relevant articles of the Constitution. The CEC also cited a judgement rendered by a five-member bench of the Supreme Court in 2013, holding that the President does not enjoy discretionary power in appointment of CEC and ECP members. He made it clear that he would not administer oath to the 'unconstitutionally' appointed members.
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