Tarar foresees political crisis 'worsening' after SC polls verdict

Law minister says coalition govt 'absolutely clear' in its stance on 'how SC is being run'

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said on Tuesday that the coalition government was “absolutely clear” in their stance against “how the Supreme Court (SC) is being run” as he predicted that the latest ruling over Punjab polls would only worsen the political crisis the country faces.

Addressing a presser following the SC's announcement of the verdict, he regretted the decision of the three-member bench on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) petition challenging the delay of Punjab Assembly elections by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) saying that a full court should have presided over the proceedings.

He also expressed reservations over the newly constituted six-member bench that later in the day adjudicated over a suo moto case after Justice Qazi Faez Isa authored a ruling in it ordering the postponement of suo motu cases till amendments were made in the SC Rules 1980 regarding the discretionary powers of the chief justice to form benches.

The move, he maintained, lends support to the government’s stance backing “the decision by the three-member bench headed by Justice Isa preventing hearing of suo motu cases until a full court meeting is convened or the process of lawmaking against Article 184(3) of the Constitution is completed”.

“The three-member bench (led by CJ Bandial) rejected the three-member bench’s orders (authored by Justice Isa) and then the shocking part that they simultaneously felt the need to constitute a six-member bench [thinking] that the circular was not sufficient to resolve the matter.

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"This is yet another proof of what various lawyers and parliamentarians as well as the Attorney General and the Election Commission’s lawyer’s argument yesterday highlighted that the law, the constitution and judicial propriety demands that the [polls delay] case should be decided only after settling the previous case first”.

He stressed that since the day the judgment ordering elections according to presidential orders came, the government has maintained that the verdict was in fact 4-3.

Reflecting on the SC judgment pertaining to elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the minister said that “four respectable judges ruled that they consider the proceedings to be outside the jurisdiction of 184(3)” and that the petitions “were not maintainable”.

“When the written orders came it became absolutely clear that four judges have disposed of the petitions which are present on the judicial file, while three respectable judges held that the petitions were maintainable,” he said.

“As for the question of the recusal of the two judges, their opinions are not included in the judicial file, which is the biggest proof thereof,” Tarar added.

The law minister stressed that at the very least when a “discrepancy” has been noted then “a full court should have seen to the issue to resolve the confusion, which did not happen”.

“The AGP suggested another solution yesterday [Monday],” he said, ”that a six or seven-member bench be constituted consisting of those judges who have not yet expressed their opinion on the matter“. However, he regretted that “that too was rejected”.

“This is allowed for the impression to persist that the institution is divided,” he continued, “and to quash divisions is the responsibility of the head of the institution”.

Tarar lamented "how verdicts have been passed in crucial constitutional cases, how benches are being constituted, how a senior puisne judge is being kept away from all the matters and how the second-senior-most judge is being kept off the benches alongside other respectable judges repeatedly".

'Emergency option'

Addressing the media before the SC judgment was announced, Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that the option of emergency was still listed in the constitution.

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Speaking to media personnel outside the apex court, the minister expected that there would be no decision in the Punjab polls delay case that would cause a crisis across the country.

He continued that when four judges left a suo motu hearing, there could be no justice and highlighted that the constitution still offered an option to declare emergency.

Sana claimed that all sides were demanding the formation of a full bench to hear the matter, and the PTI did not have any objections to a full bench either.

He questioned what was wrong with the request of a full bench formation and said that the whole nation expected justice from the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

In a thinly veiled reference to PTI chief Imran Khan, he said that an agent of chaos (fitna) pushed the country towards crisis with great efforts.