ISLAMABAD: In a surprise move, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday issued bailable arrest warrants against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and two other party leaders over their failure to appear before it in a contempt case.

The commission at the last hearing had set Jan 17 as the next date of hearing but the cause list was amended overnight to re-fix the case for Tuesday. A four-member bench of the ECP then issued arrest warrants against Mr Khan, Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry.

While sharply reacting to the ECP move, the PTI decided to file a contempt petition against it before the Islamabad High Court.

The apex court had earlier allowed the ECP to continue contempt proceedings against the PTI leaders.

PTI to move court against commission; Fawad terms it ‘another biased decision’

Headed by member from Sindh Nisar Ahmad Durrani, a four-member ECP bench issued five separate but almost identical orders — one against Asad Umar and two each against Imran Khan and Fawad Chaudhry over contempt of the ECP and Chief Election Commiss­ion­er Sikandar Sultan Raja.

“The long and short of above discussion is that respondent has neither appeared before this commission and nor has he filed his reply to the show-cause notice dated [Sept 13, 2022] as yet after lapse of sufficient time,” one of the orders stated.

“In such view of the matter, it appears that respondent namely Imran Khan is deliberately seeking adjournments on one or other pretext and also reluctant to appear before this commission which amounts to mockery on law. Such

conduct of respondent could not be tolerable, as his non-appearance before this Commission seems to be intentional,” it said.

“So far as the plea taken by proxy counsel for exemption of respondent for today is concerned, it is not clothed with any substantial evidence as he has not been able to provide a medical certificate of respondent in support thereof. Hence, in the circumstances of the case, we have left with no alternative except to issue bailable warrant of arrest against respondent in sum of Rs50,000 ... with two sureties in the like amount each,” it added.

Rejecting the plea for exemption from appearance, the bench issued bailable warrants of arrest to be executed through the Islamabad’s inspector general of police. Directing the office to take follow-up action forthwith, the bench adjourned the proceedings till Jan 17.

The case is based on the hard-hitting statements issued by top Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders against the ECP and CEC Sikandar Sultan Raja, raising questions over their neutrality and seeking resignation of the latter.

The commission had issued notices to the three PTI leaders in August last year to explain their position on contempt for allegedly using ‘intemperate’ language against the ECP and CEC. Subsequently, they were issued show-cause notices requiring them to appear before it in person.

However, they moved Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench, Sindh High Court and Islamabad High Court against ECP’s power to issue the contempt notices and proceed under Section 10 of the Elections Act, 2017, arguing that the commission was not a court of law.

Section 10 of the Elections Act 2017 empowers ECP to exercise the same power as enjoyed by a high court to punish any individual for contempt of court under the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003.

PTI’s reaction

While sharply reacting to the ECP’s decision, the PTI announced that it would file a contempt petition against it before the Islamabad High Court.

In a Twitter post, senior PTI leader and former minister Fawad Chaudhry wrote: “The case had been fixed for January 17, but was re-fixed for today against the rules and the case was decided.”

Terming it yet “another biased decision” of the commission, he said the move was a contempt of the orders passed by the IHC.

Asad Umar also took to the social media to remind the electoral watchdog to focus on its primary responsibilities of conducting elections rather than engaging in such controversies. He said the ECP had committed “contempt of high court” by not implementing its orders for conducting local body polls in Islamabad.

Also on Tuesday, the ECP issued a notice to Federal Minister for Commerce Naveed Qamar for violating the code of conduct.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2023