IHC sends notice to ECP, others in members' appointment case

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan and other parties in a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) against the appointment of ECP members, ARY News reported on Thursday.

The high court also sent notices to Secretary President, Principal Secretary of Prime Minister and the Ministry of Law to seek reply over the petition.

Moreover, the newly-appointed members of the election commission, Khalid Mehmood and Muneer Kakar, have also been sent the notices.

The notices were sent to all parties in the case after the hearing was conducted by the Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Athar Minallah.

Read: Chief Election Commissioner refuses oath-taking of two new ECP members

The PML-N counsel Jahangir Jadoon said that the appointments were made in violation of the Constitution and pleaded the high court to nullify the August 22’s notification.

Justice Minallah questioned from him whether the names were finalised by the parliamentary committee or not.

To this, the counsel replied that the federal government has not fulfilled the constitutional requirements while appointing the ECP members.

Later, the high court adjourned the hearing till October 11 after issuing the notices to the parties in the case.

Read More: Opposition rejects latest appointments of ECP members

Khalid Mahmood Siddiqui and Munir Kakar have been appointed as ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan respectively, according to a notification issued by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

The two seats of ECP members fell vacant after Abdul Ghaffar Soomro and retired Justice Shakeel Baloch — the commission’s members from Sindh and Balochistan — retired in January this year.

The government is required to appoint their successors within 45 days of their retirement.

The delay was apparently caused by a lack of consensus between the government and opposition on the appointment of ECP members as meetings of a parliamentary committee comprising members from both the sides ended in a stalemate.

Later, the opposition parties had rejected the appointments and decided to take legal action against the appointments.