Justice Wajihuddin expelled from CEC chamber

ISLAMABAD: Former Supreme Court judge Justice (retd) Wajihuddin Ahmad on Wednesday said that he would file a complaint against the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (retd) Sardar Raza Khan’s disrespectful behaviour to the Supreme Judicial Council.

Justice (retd) Wajihuddin, who heads the Aam Log Ittehad Party, made the remarks after a heated argument with the CEC at the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). Justice Wajihuddin was upset when the ECP adjourned the hearing of his petition to register his party. As a result, an infuriated Wajihuddin went into the chamber of the CEC and complained vociferously that the CEC should have waited and not adjourned the proceeding as he had come from Karachi.

The CEC pointed to the loud tone and said it had hurt him. Justice Wajihuddin and his counsel were kicked out when he said “you are a public servant and should be ready to hear these things”.

Addressing the media outside the ECP, Justice Wajihuddin declared the CEC ineligible to conduct the elections. He claimed he reached the ECP with the necessary documents for his petition but found that the CEC and ECP members had returned to their chambers.

He claimed that the CEC told him to get out and said this behaviour was unbecoming. He said that these retired judges have two jobs and feel they are just here to sip tea. He termed it a sad day for the ECP.

Speaking to a private TV channel later, Wajihuddin said he submitted the papers for the registration of his party in 2016 but the ECP was yet to rule on it. He termed Tuesday a sad day for the ECP.

Later, in a statement, ECP spokesperson Haroon Shinwari dismissed all of Wajihuddin’s claims, saying the CEC waited for the petitioner but he did not show up in the court. He added that the petitioner was not kicked out of the CEC's chamber.

The spokesperson said further that the ECP has the right to initiate contempt proceedings, adding that the ECP's stature is that of a high court.