ISLAMABAD: A petition was moved in the Supreme Court on Monday with a plea to declare the appointment of Fakhruddin G Ebrahim as chief election commissioner against the provisions of the constitution.

ISLAMABAD: A petition was moved in the Supreme Court on Monday with a plea to declare the appointment of Fakhruddin G Ebrahim as chief election commissioner against the provisions of the constitution.

The petitioner, Shahid Orakzai, while challenging the appointment, termed it contradictory to the constitution of Pakistan, saying that according to the constitution no former judge of the Supreme Court above the age of 68 could be appointed chief election commissioner.

He claimed that the president or the Public Service Commission were also not authorised to appoint a person who was above 80 years.

Citing another reason for his objection over the appointment, Orakzai said that having served as a counsel for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, the newly appointed chief election commissioner had appeared before the superior court, which was sufficient ground to claim that he had affiliation with the PML-N. The petitioner added that Fakhruddin had also appeared before the Supreme Court in a case of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

Orakzai contended that the parliamentary committee on appointment of chief election commissioner had violated the procedure of constitution as the new chief election commissioner was appointed without any hearing.

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