Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa stated that the Election Commission of Pakistan chairman and its members were entitled to respect, but unfortunately, some judges make disparaging remarks.

He said this in a detailed order on the matter of re-counting in three constituencies of the Punjab Assembly. CJP Isa authored the majority judgment.

The apex court overturned a decision by the Lahore High Court and restored the victory of three PML-N candidates in the National Assembly constituencies of NA-154 Lodhran, NA-81 Gujranwala, and NA-79 Gujranwala.

The judgment further stated that every constitutional institution and officeholder is entitled to respect, and the prestige of an institution increases when it performs its duties within the realm of respect.

The SC noted in its judgment that the requests for re-counting in the three constituencies were filed on February 9 and 10, and on August 5, 2023, an amendment to the Election Act 2017 gave the returning officer the authority to conduct the re-counting of votes.

The case revolved around the issue of vote recounting, which was initially ordered by the ECP but later overturned by the Lahore High Court. The PML-N candidates, Faraz Noon, Bilal Ijaz, and Ehsan Ullah Khan, had won the respective seats, but the independent candidates challenged the commission’s decision to declare the PML-N candidates as the winners.

The Lahore High Court had ruled in favour of the independent candidates, but the PML-N members approached the Supreme Court to challenge this decision.

Justice Aqeel Abbasi dissented from the majority opinion.

The Supreme Court’s decision upholds the principle that the Election Tribunal, not the high court, is the appropriate forum for resolving election-related disputes, as established in previous judgments. The court also reiterated that the conduct of elections falls under the purview of the Commission.