Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa shows concern over 2nd order regarding reserve ws seats He has sought an explanation from the staff of Supreme Court after he was informed that a clarification issued by eight judges on October 18 is posted in SC website without mentioning any original case file.
The Dawn cited the Chief Justice Isa as asking officially how it had been possible to issue a clarification, and that too without following proper procedures. The second clarification stems from a July 12 judgement of the Supreme Court that held legislation to be an amendment in Act XXVI of Election Act,2017 but which was set aside by total seat matters reserved seats.
Written by Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, the clarification stated that the court’s July 12 order adjudicated proportional representation of political parties on reserved seats under Article 51(6) and Article 106(3) with reference to other provision.
The chief justice also inquired why the Deputy Registrar (Implementation) had written a letter to Election Commission of Pakistan and PTI when there was no original case file available. He also confounded by the action of Supreme Court officers who put out such a clarification in his latest article online.
He also added that there has to be clarity on how these procedural lapses have taken place. He sought explanations from the Deputy Registrar (Implementation) as well as Supreme Court Webmaster Asim Javed on why a letter was issued and uploaded to the court website prematurely without due formal filing.
The controversy assumes significance as it is a sequel to some posers which Chief Justice Isa had raised in an earlier letter of September 22. He had written a letter in which he sought an explanation on how the first clarification, dated September 14 had come to be uploaded without permission on its website.
The first clarification slammed the ECP for not enforcing the Supreme Court’s July 12 directive that stated PTI was eligible to have reserved seats in Parliament. The Election Commission and the Peshawar HC earlier held that votes cast remained valid, but this order of SC can negate these seats for PTI.
The CJ Isa has said that it is necessary to correct such irregularities so as not only the credibility of the court be preserved but also all proper legal procedures have been maintained at every level.
