SC hears petition of Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri for reconstitution of ECP

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took up petition of Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri for preliminary hearing in which he prayed to the Court to order reconstitution of the Election Commission of Pakistan as the latter was not formed according to Articles 213 and 218 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri argued the case himself in the apex court. In reply to a question of the honourable Chief Justice whether a dual national could challenge the constitution of the Election Commission, Dr Qadri said that though dual nationals could not become part of Parliament but had the constitutional right to challenge the composition of the Election Commission in their capacity as voters. He said that he had questioned the composition of ECP as a voter.

Irfan Qadir, Attorney General of Pakistan, submitted to the court that the Constitution of Pakistan did not bar a dual national from filing a constitutional petition. He said that the Court could take judicial review of the said law in this regard if it so wished.

The Supreme Court put off hearing till Tuesday (Feb 12). Justice Gulzar Ahmad and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed are other members of the bench.