CEC, AG issued notices in petition against 22nd Amendment.

PESHAWAR -- A Peshawar High Court bench on Wednesday issued notices to chief election commissioner and attorney general for Pakistan in a petition challenging a 26 constitutional amendment that allows appointment of a retired senior civil servant or a technocrat to become the commissioner.

A bench of Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth and Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah fixed July 2 for next hearing of the petition filed by a lawyer, Ali Azim Afridi, requesting the court to declare the relevant provision of Constitution (Twenty-Second Amendment) Act, 26, as unconstitutional.

The petitioner also requests the court to declare appointment of current CEC, Sikander Sultan Raja, a former senior civil servant, as unconstitutional. After preliminary hearing, the bench ordered that the attorney general and CEC should respond to the petition on next date.

The respondents in the petition are: Federation of Pakistan through secretary ministry of law and CEC Sikander Sultan Raja.

Petitioner has challenged appointment of bureaucrat and technocrat as CEC

Advocate Ali Azim Afridi contended that the petition was maintainable and a constitutional amendment could be challenged before the superior courts. He quoted a judgment of Supreme Court, arguing that the court had ruled that a constitutional amendment could be called in question.

He said that his grievance revolved around section 4 of the Constitution (Twenty-Second Amendment) Act, 26, to the extent of allowing appointment of senior civil servant and technocrat as CEC by treating them at par with that of a judge of the Supreme Court and on that score enabling them to supervise the role of a judge of the high court while acting as member of Election Commission of Pakistan under Article 28 (2) (b) of the Constitution.

Mr Afridi said...