ISLAMABAD: Chairman PTI Imran Khan on Monday challenged a controversial election law enacted by parliament last month, enabling ousted prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to become the ruling PML-N head.
Imran filed the petition through his counsel Dr Babar Awan under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, making the Federation of Pakistan through secretary Ministry of Law and Justice and Election Commission of Pakistan as respondents.
The Election Bill 2017, commonly known as electoral reforms bill, was approved by the Senate and subsequently signed into a law by the president on October 2.
A controversial clause in
the bill allows disqualified politicians to hold public office or to lead a political party.
The Section 203 of the Electoral Reforms Bill 2017 allows every citizen, except for government servants, to form a political party or become its office-bearer.
The petition prays the apex court to declare all those provisions, including sections 9, 10 and 203 of the Election Act 2017, as ultra vires of the Constitution.
He also prayed the apex court to declare that the repeal of Political Parties Order, 2002 and the conduct of general election order 2002 through the Election Act, 2017, Act No XXIII was ultra vires of the Constitution.
He submitted that it was a matter of record public knowledge that the apex court had disqualified Nawaz Sharif as MNA in the PanamaLeaks case after which he lost the offices of prime minister and president PML-N.
The petitioner contended that in order to bring him back, few person-specific amendments were made to the Election Act, 2017 without any debate in parliament in haste and the Election Act, 2017 was enacted.
Imran contended that disqualifications expressly provided under articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution could neither be overtaken by a sub-constitutional law nor by a person who could not become a parliamentarian, head or office-bearer of a political party and choose or nominate parliamentarians or office-bearers of a political party.
“By repeal of Political Order 2002 through the Election Act, 2017 settled principles of law stand blatantly violated which is as under 'what cannot be done directly, cannot be done indirectly'," Imran Khan submitted.
He submitted that the impugned Election Act had practically reduced the principle of ‘Sadiq’ and ‘Ameen to a naught.
The repeal of Political Parties Order, 2002, the Conduct of General Election Order 2002 and the Electoral Rolls Act, 1974 through the Election Act is violative of Article 260(3) of the Constitution. This act of the authorities further offends the Article 227 of the Constitution, Imran contended.
He further submitted that Section 10 of the Election Act, 2017 was violative of articles 204 and 175 of the Constitution, as the ECP was a regulator in terms of Article 218(3) of Constitution and could not be termed a court without a constitutional amendment, keeping in view of Article 175.