By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday said it will announce the verdict on Tuesday on the petition filed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party challenging the country’s election regulator’s decision to postpone polls in the Punjab province until October 8.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial reserved the verdict in the petition filed by Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf party.
On March 22, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) delayed assembly polls in the politically crucial Punjab province by more than five months, citing the deteriorating security situation and financial constraints.
The ECP said the decision was taken after briefing of the government and different departments and intelligence agencies informed that “the law and order situation in the country doesn’t permit the holding of elections at any province at this point in time.”
PTI challenged the ECP’s decision to postpone polls in the Punjab Assembly initially scheduled on April 30. As per mandated by the Constitution elections should be held within 90 days of dissolution of the assembly.
Provincial assemblies in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces were dissolved in January by Khan and his allies in a bid to force early general elections.
A three-member bench of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the petition.
“The law does not allow anyone to delay elections,” the chief justice remarked during the hearing. “Only the court can defer the election date … How can the ECP give the date of October 8 for the polls?”
Justice Bandial directed Defence Secretary Lieutenant General (retd) Hamooduz Zaman to submit a security report with regards threats to the election to the court by Tuesday, after the official requested the court for an in-chamber briefing. “I cannot tell the details in the open court,” Zaman said. “We don’t want sensitive security information to reach our enemies.”
After hearing the petition, the CJP said an announcement would be made on Tuesday.
“The Constitution is clear about when the elections should be held,” Justice Bandial said. “The court will be blamed if something were to happen during the polls.”
The CJP’s announcement rounded off high drama after two judges from the original five-member bench — Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Aminuddin Khan — recused themselves from the hearing.
The issue of the election has taken center stage as Khan has been pushing for timely elections in Punjab and KP provinces. However, the government has been trying to delay the provincial polls with the plea that elections should be held after August 2023 when the term of the current House comes to an end. Pakistan historically holds the provincial and national elections together.
The coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over the weekend, however, said it would reject the ruling of a three-member Supreme Court and also hinted at a possible reference against Chief Justice Bandial and two other members of the bench.
“Elections should be held on the same day across the country,” the coalition government said in a statement after its top leaders held an online meeting to discuss the current political situation of the country in the context of the ongoing Supreme Court proceedings.
“It is a fundamental constitutional requirement to conduct impartial, transparent and free elections, a deviation from which will plunge the country into a catastrophic political crisis.”
“The meeting expressed its distrust of the three-member bench headed by Chief Justice [Umar Ata Bandial], which also comprises Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar, and demanded that the current judicial proceedings must be terminated,” it added.
The statement said that several senior judges had expressed their reservations over the current Supreme Court hearing, adding that a majority of them were against it.
“The sad fact is that the chief justice of the Supreme Court wants to impose the decision of the minority on the decision of the majority,” the statement maintained.
“Under Article 218 (3) of the constitution, among other constitutional provisions, the election commission has the power to conduct the elections and the Supreme Court should not interfere with the power of an independent election commission under the constitution.”
The statement added that the division within the Supreme Court was evident and its judges should refrain from issuing controversial political decisions.
It maintained the impression that the chief justice and some of his colleagues were offering preferential treatment to Khan’s PTI party should it be eradicated by the judiciary.
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