ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court accepted the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) petition and overturned the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) June 12 judgment on establishment of election tribunals in Punjab.

A 5-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa completed the hearing of the case and reserved the verdict, which the court announced on Monday morning.

The Chief Justice read out the decision and allowed the appeal of the Election Commission regarding the election tribunals in Punjab and annulled the decision of the Lahore High Court.

The decision of the court came from 5-0, in which the notification of the Registrar of Lahore High Court on the appointment of Judges Tribunal of June 12 has also been declared null and void.

The court observed the single bench verdict of the Lahore High Court cannot be presented as a judicial precedent. The High Court judge did not take into account the non-meeting of the Chief Election Commissioner and the Chief Justice.

The court said that a cautious attitude should be adopted when the dispute is related to a constitutional institution. The Election Commission pleaded that the constitution of election tribunals is the authority of the Election Commission.

The Chief Justice said that there is an additional note by Justice Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Aqeel Abbasi.

It should be noted that on June 12, the Lahore High Court had given a verdict on the Punjab Election Tribunals, in which the court had constituted 6 election tribunals in Punjab.

[embedpost slug=”election-tribunals-lhc-cj-turns-down-cecs-request”]

The High Court had issued a notification for the appointment of judges for the tribunals, after which the Election Commission had challenged he Lahore High Court verdict in Supreme Court.