ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has accepted the plea of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and has declared the election tribunals formed by the Lahore High Court (LHC) null and void.
The apex court announced the reserved verdict today. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa read out the summarised verdict.
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A five-member larger bench headed by CJ Isa had reserved the verdict on September 24. Justice Aminuddin, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Justice Aqeel Abbasi were part of the five-member larger bench along with the chief justice. The verdict was unanimous with a 5-0 ruling.
The decision of the single bench of LHC cannot be presented as a judicial precedent, the Supreme Court’s verdict said. The additional note of Justice Mandokhail and Justice Abbasi are also part of the judgment.
The verdict said that the LHC did not take into account the absence of any meeting between the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the LHC Chief Justice.
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Such a decision would not have been taken if the meeting had not been taken into consideration, the verdict said, adding that a cautious attitude should be adopted when the dispute is related to a constitutional institution.