Secretary Election Commission on Wednesday told Supreme Court that he did not mean to malign the court but he had expressed his point of view in an eight-page letter that he addressed to the premier recently. A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Khiliji Arif Hussain and Justice Tariq Peraz was hearing the petition filed by Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan against bogus votes lists.
In response to the court's March 6 order, Secretary ECP conveyed to the Supreme Court, "I just shared few thoughts on the situation prevailing in the country, the role of various state institutions as enshrined in the constitution and need for each to focus on its own constitutional responsibilities so that the system and democratic dispensation should be smooth and each institution could provide relief to the people in their respective domains".
He said that the theme of his letter to the PM was that any denial of free expression of thought would not only be the negation of fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution but would also lead to suffocation of new ideas, creative dialogue and free spirit of inquiry.
According to the Secretary ECP, nobody is perfect, we all make mistakes, we need to learn from the same and that this little time that has been made available to us is too precious to be wasted on petty issues or non issues. "I feel duty-bound to express my views and share my thoughts and obviously, while discussing issues, there is no intention of hurting anybody or maligning any institution," he added.
Expressing annoyance over the Secretary ECP's stance on apex court's "undue interference" in the affairs of the ECP, the bench reiterated that the court would go to any extent to protect the constitution. The CJP said that everyone had a right to express his views, but within certain limits.
He said that ECP was bound to review the electoral lists annually and that it had taken up the matter on a petition filed by one of the political party heads in April 2011. Justice Khilji Arif Hussain said that the court had shown restrain on the delay of ECP in preparation of electoral lists but secretary ECP had blamed the "court's interference."
"It's our duty to keep a check that no one violates the constitution and if we discharge their duties then people start saying the apex court is interfering in their domain," he added.
The court asked the secretary ECP why he had kept the ECP members in the dark as they did not have knowledge about the deadline. Secretary replied that four meetings were held with the ECP members and they were aware about the delay in the preparation of electoral lists. The court directed the attorney general for Pakistan to go through the ECP reply as well as secretary ECP letter and assist the bench that whether or not the secretary's perception about the undue interference by the court in ECP affairs was acceptable. The court adjourned the hearing to April 9.
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