Lahore CCPO partisan, ECP tells SC

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has informed the Supreme Court of Pakistan that CCPO Lahore Ghulam Mahmood Dogar has inclinations towards a particular political party and will not be able to fulfil his constitutional duties if he remains the divisional head during the conduct of provincial assembly elections in Lahore.

The electoral watchdog filed a civil miscellaneous application with the apex court, praying to be tagged as a party to the instant petition and heard accordingly in the interest of justice.

Filed through advocate Sajeel Shahryar Swati, the ECP petition submitted that a three-member bench of the apex court, while hearing the matter of Dogar’s transfer, had ordered fixing it before the apex court five-member bench already dealing with the matter of postings and transfers of police officials in Punjab. The ECP prayed to the apex court that being a constitutional body, it might be allowed to be tagged as a party to the instant petition.

The ECP contended that it was charged with a constitutional duty to ensure that elections are conducted fairly in accordance with the law and that corrupt practices are guarded against.

“It is imperative that to ensure that the constitutional duty as envisaged in Article 218(3) is fulfilled, the machinery assisting the commission is neutral and non-partisan, and also has no germs of affiliations with a political party,” the ECP submitted.

It contended that the incumbent officer (Ghulam Mahmood Dogar) had inclinations towards a particular political party and therefore the commission had reasons to believe that he would not be able to fulfil his constitutional duties if he remained the divisional head during the conduct of provincial assembly elections in Lahore.

The ECP recalled that the SC in the worker's party’s case reported as PLD 2012 SC 681 at Para 41 mandated the commission to take preemptive measures to guard against any corrupt practices or even a possibility thereof so that the elections are conducted honestly and in accordance with the law. “It is not understandable as to why the incumbent officer is interested in a particular posting of his choice station,” the ECP contended, adding that as per the trite law of this land, transfers and postings were the prerogative of the government, i.e. provincial or federal government, and no particular officer could claim any right of posting of his choice.

It further submitted that the Provincial Assembly of Punjab stood dissolved on January 14, 2023, in terms of Article 112(1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and a caretaker government was appointed on 12-0-1-2023 in terms of Article 224 (A) of the Constitution.

It submitted that letters were written to the chief secretaries of Punjab and KP dated 26-01-2023 for the reshuffling of all administrative officers for ensuring impartial elections.

“It is a considered view of the commission that without reshuffling of such partisan officers, free and fair elections shall not be possible in line with Articles 218 and 230 and the Elections Act 2017,” the ECP submitted.