IHC adjourns ECP’s two appointments case till Dec 5

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has adjourned the hearing of the appointment of two members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) case till 5th December.

The IHC earlier today rejected the presidential notification of the appointment of two new members of the ECP.

The High Court issued an order on the request of lawyer Jahangir Khan Jadoon on the issue of the appointment of the ECP’s two new members.

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Chief Justice Athar Manullah remarked that Parliament was confident enough to resolve the issue.

Chief Justice further stated, “Speaker National Assembly and Chairman Senate should resolve the matter with mutual consultation till next hearing.”

CJ Athar Manullah went on saying, “The elected representatives of parliament should make such decisions themselves.”

The notification for the deployment of the two new ECP members will remain suspended until the next hearing.

The court inquired how much time the National Assembly and Chairman Senate needed. The responded to extend the hearing for four weeks. However, the court extended the hearing for a month.

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Earlier on 22nd August, President Dr. Arif Alvi had appointed two new members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

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 sides ended in a stalemate.

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