Parliament can’t commit mistake: IHC

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah observed on Tuesday that the National Assembly cannot commit any mistake as it is the representative of 220 million people.

In this regard, the government’s legal adviser said that parliament has ability to handle the situation if it commits any mistake. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday granted 15 days more to the federal government for the appointment of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) members.

PML-N MNA Murtaza Javed Abbasi and Dr Nisar Cheema had challenged the appointment of ECP members on the seats of Sindh and Balochistan in Islamabad High Court, which led to the suspension of the appointment of new members.

During the hearing, the court was told that due to the dense fog several members of parliamentary committee were unable to attend the meeting on Monday.

The rules formed by the previous committee are not suitable in the current

scenario, government’s legal adviser said.The IHC chief justice said that the court can only expect that the opposition leaders and Prime Minister Imran Khan jointly select names for the posts. Only parliamentary committee can change the rules, he asserted. The court later adjourned the hearing till January 15.

The issue of appointment of ECP members rose after the retirement of ECP members Abdul Ghaffar Soomro from Sindh and Justice (retd) Shakeel Baloch from Baloshitan in January and, as per law their replacements were to be made within 45 days. A consultation between the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly is required for the appointment of ECP members.