ISLAMABAD
\nThe Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea challenging appointment of Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja.
\nA 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.
\nEarlier, the top court Registrar\u2019s office had dismissed the petition terming it not-maintainable, however, the petitioner Advocate Ali Azeem Afridi challenged the decision before the court.
\nDuring the proceeding, responding to the court\u2019s 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.
\nTo this, the acting CJP said that there is no need to pursue this matter. \u201cYou 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?\u201d the CJP asked.
\nThe CJP observed the CEC and NAB chairperson are not judicial officers. \u201cAccording to the Constitution, no constitutional amendment can be challenged. Still, we appreciate your efforts. You raised a constitutional point,\u201d he said while addressing the petitioner.
\nAccording to the top court, the appointment of ECP members, including the election commissioner, was based on merit and competency.
\nIt 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.
\nHe 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\u2019s appointment unconstitutional. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\u2019s office had dismissed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215553,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-215543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n