The Peshawar High Court (PHC) Election Tribunal judge Justice Shakeel Ahmed remarked people are the best judges in elections and People elect whomever they want to.
Justice Shakeel heard the case of rejection of nomination papers for PTI candidate Atif Khan for the upcoming general elections.
“The petitioner's papers have been rejected an FIR has been registered against him,” counsel for the petitioner argued before the tribunal, on which the judge inquired ECP lawyer, whether a proclaimed offender papers be rejected.
The ECP lawyer replied Sindh High Court announced a decision about the rejection of nomination papers when a person was proven guilty and another decision from the Balochistan High Court was present but it was about the local government.
Justice Shakeel Ahmed sought copy of the decision.
The court reserved the decision on Atif Khan's appeal.
Earlier, the Peshawar High Court had questioned the status of the PTI’s petition for holding the upcoming general elections under the supervision of the judiciary in light of the Supreme Court's order from last week.
The court later reserved its verdict after hearing all the parties.
The apex court had on Friday quashed a Lahore High Court (LHC) verdict on the appointment of ROs and DROs and ordered the election commissioner to announce the election schedule.
A two-member PHC bench headed by Chief Justice Muhammad Ibrahim is hearing the case.
The advocate general, the election commission counsel, the additional attorney general and the petitioner's lawyers were present in the courtroom.
The chief justice remarked that the petitioner had only challenged a declaration of the election commission. “Jab dard mein dil ho to dawa keejay, jab dil hi na ho to kya keejay?” asked the CJ through a poetic verse.
Justice Shakeel Ahmed asked the advocate general what value the PTI petition held in light of the Supreme Court verdict.
The CJ asked the PTI lawyer if they did not want the DROs changed.
Also Read: SC quashes LHC verdict on appointment of ROs, orders ECP to announce election schedule
The court then asked the advocate general whether this petition was admissible or not after the decision of the Supreme Court.
It’s not possible that half of the supervisors are from the judiciary and half from bureaucracy, the court remarked.
It is the election commission’s jurisdiction to decide who will conduct the election, the ECP counsel said.
The PTI lawyer said there were over 700 petitions under Section 3 MPO before the Peshawar High Court, PTI members were being arrested and the election commission's job is to conduct fair and transparent elections.
The lawyer asked if the commission did not trust the judiciary after conducting elections in the past.
