LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to decide within seven days an application of the PTI challenging postings of 22 senior government and police officers in Punjab till the upcoming general elections in the province.

PTI senior vice president Fawad Chaudhry filed the petition through advocate Mobeenuddin Qazi.

The counsel argued before the court that the elections were due to be held within a period of 90 days from the dissolution of the assembly, therefore, the PTI through its application conveyed its reservations to the ECP about the 22 senior government officers.

He said the petitioner requested the ECP that officers not be given postings in the province of Punjab, during the forthcoming general elections for the provincial assembly of Punjab.

However, he said, the ECP failed to act in accordance with law and the constitution and had not only slept over the petitioner’s application but instead granted a free hand to the controversial caretaker government to issue blanket orders of transfer and postings throughout the province.

The counsel argued that without removing the ‘controversial’ officers from the posts in the province, the conduct of fair, free and transparent elections as envisaged in the Constitution would not be possible.

He alleged that the biased and controversial caretaker government in Punjab was not only taking major policy decisions, but had also been issuing unwarranted large-scale blanket orders of transfers of officers of the provincial government in order to affect the election of the PTI.

He asked the court to order the ECP to address the grievance of the petitioner expressed in the application pending with it.

After hearing the arguments of the counsel, Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabir directed the ECP to decide the application of the PTI in accordance with law within seven days.

The list of the ‘controversial’ officers prepared by the PTI has 11 bureaucrats - Nabeel Awan, retired Capt Muhammad Usman, Umar Sher Chattah, Sumair Syed, Ali Randhawa, Ajmal Bhatti, Ahmad Raza Sarwar, Amir Karim Khan, Dr Rashid Mansoor, Amir Khattak and Syed Ali Murtaza.

The list also includes IGP retired Capt Usman Anwar, CCPO Bilal Siddique Kamiyana, Anti-Corruption Establishment Director General Sohail Zafar Chattha and other police officers.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2023