Govt seeks recusal of SC judges in polls delay case

The ruling coalition on Friday asked Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi to recuse themselves from a larger Supreme Court bench in the suo motu case regarding the delay in the announcement of a date for polls in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

The request was presented in a joint note by the PPP, PML-N and JUI-F as the nine-member bench resumed the hearing of the case.

As the proceedings commenced, a joint statement was read by PPP counsel Farooq H Naek requesting Justice Ahsan and Justice Naqvi to recuse themselves from hearing the case.

In the statement, it was requested that both the apex court's judges "recuse themselves from hearing any matter involving PML-N, PPP and JUI-F and their leadership" for the "interest of justice, fair play and to protect the fundamental right to a fair trial and due process".

Naek also noted that he had not yet received a copy of the court order and requested that notices be issued to all concerned parties.

The chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) remarked that today “we will mark everyone here present and hear arguments on Monday,” noting that the representatives of all four provinces were present in the courtroom.

The PPP lawyer further objected to the inclusion of Justice Ahsan and Justice Naqvi in the bench and referred to Justice Jamal Mandokhail’s statement made in the previous hearing objecting to the suo moto notice.

However, Justice Athar Minallah said that the matter pertained to Article 184(3) of the constitution and questioned why it should not be heard in a full court.

Advocate Naek replied that he did not want to go into the details but maintained that he believed that the case should be heard by a full-court bench.

CJP Umar Atta Bandial remarked that "we will discuss the admissibility of the case first". To this, the PPP's counsel said that admissibility is the most important issue, as is the matter of composition and seeing how the bench was constituted.

During the hearing, Awami Muslim League (AML)'s counsel Azhar Siddique inquired as to why the political leaders were being allowed to defame the judiciary, saying that this was a "serious issue".

In his remarks, Justice Jamal Mandokhail said that political matters should be settled in the parliament, questioning why the lawmakers were not resolving the issue of interpretation of the constitution in the parliament.

Justice Bandial said that in normal circumstances, citizens knocked on the door of the court “but today, the Constitution of Pakistan has knocked on our doorstep.”

Subsequently, the court adjourned the hearing till Monday, February 27.