ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday warned that the Supreme Court docket will intervene if there was any indication that elections weren’t being held in a “clear” method. Bandial made the remarks as a three-member bench resumed listening to a petition in opposition to the switch of Lahore police chief Ghulam Mahmood Dogar.
Through the listening to, the chief justice stated that the Election Fee of Pakistan (ECP) was a constitutional physique and can be “provided safety” for holding free elections within the nation.
“The fee has powers below the Structure. Its goal is to conduct clear polls. We’ll intervene if there may be any sick intention in holding clear polls,” Chief Justice Bandial stated.
Dogar, the Lahore capital metropolis police officer (CCPO), was transferred to Islamabad in September final yr however his switch was cancelled and he was reinstated because the Lahore CCPO by the Supreme Court docket on December 2, 2022.
Later, he was changed as CCPO on January 23 with Bilal Siddique Kamyana and in addition despatched to Islamabad, however the prime court docket once more intervened on February 17 to cease his repatriation to the federal capital.
The motion was taken by the court docket as by regulation no switch and posting may be made as soon as elections have been introduced. The Punjab meeting was dissolved in January and elections had been as a consequence of be held on April 30.
The warning to make sure honest and free elections by the apex court docket comes as the federal government and opposition are bitterly combating over holding the election well timed and in a clear method to make them acceptable for everybody.
Commenting on a sequence of audio leaks in current weeks, Bandial stated the apex court docket was being “defamed by means of audio tapes”.
“These audio tapes don’t have any significance,” he added.
