Govt to not accept ‘hasty’ SC verdict

As the Supreme Court is set to announce its verdict on the PTI’s petition challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to postpone Punjab Assembly polls, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar has warned that the government would not accept if the top court delivers its verdict on a sensitive and important issue in haste.

Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, the law minister said that the entire nation was waiting for the top court’s decision and categorically stated that any hasty decision on such a sensitive issue would be rejected.

He also asked President Arif Alvi to sign the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, which aims to curtail the suo motu powers of the office of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP).

Tarar had introduced the bill in the lower house of the parliament on Wednesday and it was passed by the Senate, or upper house, on Thursday. The new draft law, which has been sent to the president for assent, has cut down the chief justice's powers to constitute panels, hear appeals or assign cases to judges in his team, according to a copy of the bill.

The government is currently involved in a row with the Supreme Court over the holding of snap polls in two provinces where PTI chief Imran Khan had dissolved the local governments earlier this year in a bid to force early elections.

The government says it is economically not viable to hold the snap elections first and then have another general election this year.

“Two assemblies have been sacrificed on the altar of the ego of Imran Khan,” Tarar said in the assembly and maintained that the government has thus far tried its best to maintain the institution’s sanctity. However, in the same breath, he pointed out that the same institution had given nine years, instead of three months, to a dictator.

His statement came as the apex court, irked by the government declaring ‘no-confidence’ in the SC bench hearing the case, refused to listen to the arguments of the ruling parties’ lawyers and reserved the verdict.

The minister said that the Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan asked for the formation of a six-member bench with judges who weren’t present on the bench before but regretted that the verdict has been reserved now.

He also said that the government had submitted a request to become a party in the case for the last six days, adding that It demanded transparency to be brought to the Supreme Court’s proceedings. “When representatives of political parties appeared in the court today, they expressed displeasure,” the minister said.

He claimed there were also misgivings within legal circles regarding the issue and added that despite expressing no confidence, the bench took matters forward. “Our request was to make a bench that is acceptable to all. The decision of four judges against three has come out.”

Tarar went on to say that the government’s lawyers said that their objections should be heard before the hearing and that the government is not being made a party despite continuous requests. “We were party earlier, but it is not known when we were refused to be one,” he said.

Tarar added that voices are also being raised within the institution, but they are being ignored.

“Voices of the institution’s judges are rising, but they are being suppressed. If the decision is made in a hurry, then history will write it on black pages. If such an important national issue is decided in haste, then it will be controversial,” Tarar said.

The minister mentioned that the chief justice asked political parties to resolve the issue on their own. “I would ask the chief justice to first fix your own house. First look at your own house and listen to the voices rising inside it.