ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) has reserved the decision on objections filed by PTI candidates over transferring their electoral pleas to a retired judge-led tribunal.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq reserved the decision on Monday after hearing the petitioners Shoaib Shaheen, Mohammad Ali Bukhari and Amir Masood Mughal, who lost the February 8 general election on National Assembly seats from Islamabad.
They had challenged the victories of their opponents in the tribunal led by IHC’s Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri.
However, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) moved their petitions to a tribunal headed by a retired judge, which was formed after the Elections Act 2017 was amended through a presidential ordinance.
During the hearing on Monday, ECP officials and the three winning candidates — Anjum Aqeel Khan, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Raja Khurram Nawaz — concluded their arguments.
In their petitions, PTI-backed candidates argued that Section 140 of the Elections Act empowered the ECP to appoint election tribunals to adjudicate disputes.
However, sub-section 3 of the clause required the commission to appoint a sitting judge to the tribunal in consultation with the relevant high court’s chief justice.
The petitioners added that Section 151 granted ECP the authority to transfer petitions from one tribunal to another without consulting the chief justice. They argued that Section 151 was against the independence of the judiciary as election petitions cannot be withdrawn from a tribunal formed in consultation with the CJ.
