ISLAMABAD
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea challenging appointment of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.
A three-member bench of the acting Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial upheld objections raised by the Registrar Office on the petition of Advocate Ali Azeem Afridi in the matter.
Earlier, the top court Registrar’s office had dismissed the petition terming it not-maintainable, however, the petitioner Advocate Ali Azeem Afridi challenged the decision before the court.
During the proceeding, responding to the court’s query whether there is any serving judge in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) at present, petitioner Afridi submitted that currently there is no serving judge in the ECP.
To this, the acting CJP said that there is no need to pursue this matter. “You say that a retired bureaucrat cannot be appointed as the chief election commissioner. Have you read the SC decision of the NAB chairman appointment case?” the CJP asked.
The CJP observed the CEC and NAB chairperson are not judicial officers. “According to the Constitution, no constitutional amendment can be challenged. Still, we appreciate your efforts. You raised a constitutional point,” he said while addressing the petitioner.
According to the top court, the appointment of ECP members, including the election commissioner, was based on merit and competency.
It is pertinent to mention that during last week, Advocate Ali Azeem Afridi filed the petition against the appointment of the current CEC Sikander Sultan Raja after the Peshawar High Court (PHC) dismissed his similar petition last year in September.
He assailed a constitutional amendment that allowed the appointment of a retired senior civil servant or a technocrat as the chief election commissioner (CEC) of Pakistan. He has urged the top court to declare the incumbent CEC’s appointment unconstitutional.
