The fake degree holders and utility bills defaulters are in the dock but the election scrutinisers have apparently shut their eyes to a comprehensive report about the politicians who had got their loans written-off during the past four decades.

A Judicial Commission headed by Justice (r) Jamshaid Ali Shah had prepared the report on loans worth Rs256 billion written off since 1971 to 2009 by the State Bank. The Supreme Court had on February 20 ordered to make public this report.

Relevant official sources say that this report is not being consulted at all. Resultantly, the nomination papers of the loan defaulters will get through. If disqualifications are ordered in the light of this report, a large number of candidates, including senior politicians and renowned industrialists, will stand barred from contesting the May 11 elections.

During hearing of the suo moto on written-off loans, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on December 23, 2009 had promised to take across the board action against those who got huge amounts of loans written off. The report has not been uploaded on apex court’s website by the Registrar Office reportedly due to its ‘huge volume’.

A senior official, who is part of the five-member scrutiny committee of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), told this scribe that since April 1, the day when scrutiny of candidates started, the JC report had not been taken up by the committee even for consideration. The scrutiny process will end on April 7.

“We have not discussed the report in last three days for deciding the fate of nomination papers of senior politicians of almost all parties,” the member, who wished not to be named, said. He maintained that not a single nomination had been rejected by the returning officers or the ECP itself on the basis of this report.

When the nomination papers were being submitted, a list of politicians of electricity defaulters had been sent to the returning officers for necessary action during scrutiny. But neither any direction nor any list containing names of those who got their loans written off was forwarded to the returning officers, the official maintained.

Some returning officers during off the record discussions also confirmed that did not receive any instructions or any list in this regard. “We have been directed by the commission not to reject nomination papers of senior politicians until April 6, and wait for the scrutiny committee’s decisions,” a returning officer, requesting anonymity, told The Nation.

The official also claimed that the five members of the scrutiny committee were divided on considering the commission’s report. “Few of them want to give relief to the senior politicians,” he said, adding the ECP wanted to see ‘mature politicians’ in the next assemblies.

“So far, a formal style of scrutiny is being followed and nothing has been done in view of articles 62 and 63 of the constitution,” he said, adding that routine details about the candidates were being collected from the State Bank, Federal Board of Revenue and other departments. He said most of the senior politicians of all the parties would be out of elections if both articles of the constitution were strictly adhered to.

Repeated phone calls to ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan to get his response went unanswered. Former ECP Secretary Kanwar Dilshad termed the Judicial Commission’s report as most important document for the scrutiny process. “Many corrupt politicians can be filtered out by utilising this report,” he said.

He pointed out that the ECP had sought details of the loan defaulted and written-off in the new nomination papers by the contestants. “The voters, civil society and lawyers should highlight the ignoring of the JC report during scrutiny and demand from the apex court to issue strict order to implement the same as it did about fake degree holder politicians,” Kanwar noted.