Election body’s denial of recognition to ex-PM Khan party infringed upon electorate’s rights — top court

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) on Monday issued a detailed verdict in a case relating to reserved seats claimed by former prime minister Imran Khan’s party, ruling that the election commission’s decision to deny recognition to a major political party infringed upon the electorate’s rights.
The 70-page judgment, authored by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, was released days after National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq wrote to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), arguing that the Supreme Court’s short order in the case was “incapable of implementation” due to amendments made to the Elections Act 2017.
Sadiq referred to the top court’s 8-5 majority verdict issued on July 12, in which the court had declared Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party eligible for allocation of reserved parliamentary seats months after the ECP forced the PTI candidates to contest the February 8 national election as independents. The ECP took the decision after the PTI lost its election symbol in the wake of a prolonged legal battle for not holding proper intra-party polls. Subsequently, the election body refused reserved seats to the PTI on technical grounds, saying they were only meant for political parties and not for independent candidates.
The Supreme Court overturned the ECP’s decision and said it had misconstrued an earlier verdict relating to election symbols by depriving the PTI of reserved seats. Instead of giving the seats to the party, however, the election body filed a petition to seek guidance on the matter and questioned the validity of the party’s organizational structure under the circumstances. The detailed judgment by the Supreme Court clarified that a party’s constitutional right to participate in elections was not impacted by the absence of an electoral symbol.
“When election authorities engaged in actions, such as unlawfully denying the recognition of a major political party and treating its nominated candidates as independents, they not only compromise the rights of these candidates but also significantly infringe upon the rights of the electorate and corrode their own institutional legitimacy,” the detailed verdict read.
The court ruled that the constitution and the law did not prevent any political party from fielding candidates, referring to the ECP’s decision to strip the PTI of its election symbol of a ‘cricket bat’ over irregularities in intraparty elections.
“The ECP’s March 1 decision is contradictory to the constitution and has no legal value,” the court ruled, with regard to the election body’s denial of reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and its decision to instead give them to other political parties on the principle of proportional representation. Khan-backed candidates had joined the SIC after the Feb. 8 polls, in a bid to claim their share of reserved parliamentary seats.
When the election commission “errs or makes significant mistakes impacting the electoral process,” the court said that judicial intervention became necessary to rectify them and ensure electoral justice.
“This court is not handicapped by any technicality or rule of practice or procedure, nor is the exercise of this power by the court dependent on an application by a party,” it added.
“The procedural formality of first accepting PTI’s application and then granting it the relief does not carry much weight where the court’s concern is the protection of the right to vote of the people (the electorate) guaranteed under Articles 17 (2) and 19 of the constitution, more than the right of any political party — whether it be SIC or PTI or any other party,” the verdict read.
Legal experts believe that after the explanations provided in the detailed verdict, the ECP had no choice but to implement the Supreme Court’s order in letter and spirit.
“The SCP has provided all the details and reasons quoting constitutional provisions for reaching the short decision which has removed all ambiguities earlier raised by the ECP and now the commission has no other option but to implement the decision,” Anwar Mansoor Khan, a former attorney general of Pakistan, told Arab News.
He said if the ECP did not comply with the order, the court may initiate legal action, including contempt proceedings, against the electoral body.
“This confrontation between two top institutions is not good and will harm the country,” he added.
Saiful Malook, an expert on constitutional law, said the Constitution of Pakistan mandated all judgments of the Supreme Court to be binding on both judicial and executive authorities in the country.
“That is the constitutional mandate and constitutional mandate cannot be taken away through an ordinary legislation of amending the Elections Act,” he told Arab News, referring to the National Assembly speaker’s letter to the ECP.
“If the Supreme Court judgment is directing something to be done in a particular way, the Elections Act cannot stop it. The election commission, according to Article 189 and Article 190 of the constitution, they are bound by the constitutional mandate to do whatever the Supreme Court has ordered.”
Malook said Pakistan’s judicial system would “collapse” if the ECP and the government further resisted the implementation of this order.