ECP approaches SC against reinstatement of CCPO Lahore

• ECP has approached SC against reinstatement of CCPO Lahore
• ECP issued directives to caretaker government to transfer officers
• It said administrative officers should not be aligned with any political party

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has appealed against the reinstatement of Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore Ghulam Mehmood Dogar.

The election commission has submitted a plea in the Supreme Court of Pakistan to become a respondent in the case regarding the transfer and reinstatement of the police officer.

The election commission maintained that it had issues directives the caretaker government and send letters to the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to transfer administrative officers before the provincial elections.

The election commission said that in order to ensure elections are held in a fair and transparent manner and provide a level-playing field to all parties, it is necessary that administrative officers assisting the election process are neutral and not aligned with any political party.

The ECP further added that it is not possible to hold transparent elections without transferring biased officers from administrative postings.

It is the responsibility of the election commission to ensure that the elections are fair and transparent and to prevent corrupt practices, the ECP told the apex court.

It added that the concerned officer is inclined towards a particular political party and the election commission has reason to believe he will not be able to discharge his constitutional duty.

If the concerned officer is in charge of the department at the time of Punjab Assembly elections, he will not be able to discharge their constitutional responsibilities, it maintained

The election commission said it is not clear why the officer concerned is being given a specific posting at a place of his choice. It maintained that an officer cannot claim the right to posting of his own choice.

It is pertinent to maintain Ghulam Mehmood Dogar has been reinstated as Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) following the verdict of Supreme Court (SC).

A three-member bench headed by Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan heard the case related to Dogar’s transfer. The court said that the election commission had given verbal approval to a verbal request.

The federal government withdrew the suspension order of Dogar after his reinstatement. Punjab caretaker chief minister appointed Bilal Siddique Kamyana as the Lahore CCPO.

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