In a significant development ahead of polls, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday suspended the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification to hold general elections in Punjab through the executive. LHC’s Justice Ali Baqar Najafi announced the verdict on a petition filed by the PTI against the appointment of district returning officers (DROs) and returning officers (ROs) from the bureaucracy of Punjab for the general polls. While announcing the reserved verdict, Justice Ali Baqar Najafi issued notices to the parties – caretaker federal and Punjab governments and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). In its five-page order, the LHC noted that the poor people had spent billions of rupees on conducting the elections. “If the major political parties did not accept the election results, the nation’s money would be wasted,” it added. It further pointed out that it was the ECP’s duty to conduct free and fair elections.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) had moved the Lahore High Court, challenging the appointment of bureaucrats by the caretaker provincial government in Punjab, to act as returning officers (ROs) for the upcoming general elections. The court was requested that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) be directed to initiate a consultation process with LHC’s chief justice for the appointment of judicial officers as DROs and ROs under Sections 50 and 51 of the Elections Act 2017 for the polls in 2024. The provincial election commissioners will administer oath to the DROs, said sources, adding that DROs will administer oath to the ROs in the respective districts. It was learnt that deputy commissioners (DCs) of all districts were being appointed as the DROs and ADCs will be appointed as the ROs for the National Assembly (NA) seats.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)