SC quashes LHC verdict on ROs, DROs appointment in elections

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday night suspended the Lahore High Court’s order against the appointment of returning officers across the country.

The order was issued after hearing the Election Commission of Pakistan’s appeal against a Lahore High Court verdict that suspended the appointment of returning officers for the upcoming general election.

The development comes a day after the ECP paused a training session for ROs and DROs — an exercise without which polls on February 8 could be in trouble.

The bench was led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and included Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah. The bench took up the petition minutes after it was filed on Friday evening.

The order also called upon the petitioner, Umer Niazi, to provide an explanation as to how his order did not constitute contempt of court. It added that the LHC order had been issued in ‘undue haste’.

It is important to note here that if the general elections are to take place on Feb 8, the ECP will need to issue the elections schedule either today or tomorrow (Saturday).

By constitutional and legal procedures, the election schedule spans 54 days, with Dec 17 marking the first day and Feb 8 being the 54th day.

The paramount question that begs an answer in the current situation is who will submit the nomination papers and who will receive them if the election schedule is issued.

LHC verdict:

The high court order, which was issued on a petition submitted by the PTI, seemingly brought the electoral process to a standstill, causing widespread concern among political parties — including the petitioner PTI — regarding general elections.

While announcing the verdict, LHC’s Justice Ali Baqar Najafi had referred the PTI petition to the chief justice with a request to constitute a larger bench to decide the matter.

In its petition in the high court, the PTI had contested the appointments of bureaucrats to act as DROs and ROs for the upcoming general elections and sought the appointment of officials from the lower judiciary for the poll exercise.