ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday once again brushed aside the possibility of delay in general elections for another two to three months and reiterated that the Supreme Court will not tolerate delay even for a day.

But a three-judge bench headed by the chief justice also hinted at constituting a larger bench to examine the amendments made to the nomination papers for the elections.

Read: Judiciary will ensure free, fair election, says CJP

The court which had taken up petitions pertaining to electoral reforms also asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to furnish a comparative study of electoral reforms, especially after the amendments to the nomination papers.

Hints at constituting larger bench to examine amendments in nomination papers

The court had taken up a case relating to the implementation of its order of June 8, 2012, on electoral reforms. The verdict had required the ECP to take steps for discouraging extravagance, show of wealth, power and pageantry in the elections and make arrangements to ensure that the elections are conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with the law and that corrupt practices are guarded against.

On Monday, an ECP representative told the court that the commission had already issued a code of conduct for the general elections which had been developed with the consultation and consent of all political parties.

After the adoption of the Elections Act 2017, the ECP said, the commission had also revised the code of the conduct for the elections and then formed a new code of conduct for the 2018 general elections.

Filed through Bilal Hasan Minto, the petitioner had pleaded for the introduction of a new code of conduct for holding free, fair and just elections by discouraging spending of huge amounts of money, which usually cannot be monitored or controlled, adding that political ideas should be disseminated through affordable means such as door-to-door campaigns, pre-scheduled corner meetings, dissemination of manifesto, etc.

Such a code of conduct should be declared to be mandatory with defined consequences upon a failure to adhere to it, the petition said, adding that this was fully within the powers of the ECP.

Although an attempt has been made by ECP to curb election expenses by prohibiting jalsa and jaloos for the local government elections, no such prohibition has been imposed on the elections for the national and provincial assemblies. It is but obvious that in view of current prices of things, a single jalsa or jaloos would in fact cost more than Rs1.5 million, which is the maximum permissible limit of election expenses for each contesting candidate for the National Assembly, the petition had argued.

During Monday’s hearing Dr Zubair appeared before the court as a voter and pleaded to restore the earlier nomination papers.

At this, the chief justice observed that the apex court had suspended the Lahore High Court (LHC) order which had rejected the new nomination papers after considering the supremacy of parliament.

The chief justice observed that parliament being representative of the people enjoyed the right to make laws also, adding that had the Supreme Court accepted the LHC order it would have given the candidates an excuse to seek time to complete the information being sought in the earlier nomination papers.

The court then said that it will take up the cases moved by the ECP and National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq against the LHC order on Wednesday, adding that it may constitute a larger bench in this regard.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2018