Supreme Court seeks response from PTI’s Umair Niazi

The written decree concerning the case against the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision has been issued by the Supreme Court.

In response to Umair Khan Niazi of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who contested the appointment of bureaucrats as returning officers for elections, the Supreme Court has summoned a reply. This comes as the apex court bench suspended the Lahore High Court’s order dated December 13.

The six-page order, released on Friday, stated, “The respondent No. 1 is stated to be a barrister and, as such, expected to be well-conversant with the Constitution and to have read the judgment of this court which had clearly stipulated that, ‘no one should be allowed to put forward any pretext to derail democracy.'”

A three-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, issued the suspension of the LHC order on Friday. The LHC order had temporarily halted the appointment of district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs), and assistant returning officers (AROs) from the executive.

Additionally, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to announce a schedule for the general elections scheduled for February 8, 2024. Shortly after, the election overseer released the schedule, with the Commission accepting nomination papers from December 20 to 22.

The order, jointly authored by the three judges, expressed concern that Niazi, in his capacity as a barrister and former additional advocate-general of Punjab during his party’s government, seemed to act against the court’s judgment. The order called upon Niazi to provide an explanation for his conduct and why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against him under the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003, read with Article 204 of the Constitution.