Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan has constituted six more election tribunals for Punjab on the basis of one writ petition order, which is against the law and constitution, said senior analyst Muzamal Suharwardy.
While speaking at a program on Naya Daur TV, Suharwardy said that LHC registrar Chaudhry Abdul Rashid Abid issued a notification that stated, “The Hon’ble Chief Justice in light of a judgement passed by this court in writ petition No.25985/24, has been pleased to constitute the following tribunals and assigned the areas to act as Election Tribunals for General Election-2024.”
The analyst said that it is the authority of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to form election tribunals. He said that currently there are two types of election tribunals in 'market': one formed by the chief election commissioner and the other by the LHC chief justice. “Both are not accepting each other’s election tribunals,” he added.
Suharwardy said the conflict between the ECP and LHC chief justice emerged when the chief justice recommended one name for the election tribunal in Bahawalpur and one name for the election tribunal in Rawalpindi. The ECP raised the objection that the chief justice should recommend at least two or three names from which one can be selected.
The analyst said that establishing election tribunals is a task of the administrative side and not the judicial side, adding that judicial activism in high courts has destroyed the entire setup.
While responding to a question about an audio leak of the courtroom that was released by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) official social media accounts, Suharwardy said that Islamabad High Court (IHC) Judges Justice Babar Sattar and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani allege that security agencies illegally record calls, but now both are silent when the illegal tapping of the courtroom was done by the PTI.
“It is a heinous crime, and a contempt of court notice should be issued to the PTI,” he added.
While responding to a question about the government’s decision to not issue passports to citizens seeking asylum abroad, the analyst said that it was a good decision. "If a person says his life is in danger in Pakistan, then why does he need a Pakistani passport?” he questioned.