Govt hardens position on SC election verdict

ISLAMABAD:

 

A day after the Supreme Court ruled that election in Punjab be held on May 14, the ruling coalition on Wednesday took a hardening stance, saying “people should know the way the Constitution and law was being mocked”, and announced it will bring a resolution against the verdict in the National Assembly on Thursday (today).

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a huddle of the allied parties in the federal capital to mull over the constitutional and legal aspects in the wake of the apex court’s decision and craft a strategy in this regard.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared as “unconstitutional” the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to postpone polls in Punjab, citing security concerns and the economic crisis.

The three-member bench — headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan —fixed May 14 as the date for the poll in the province.

Regarding elections in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the top court ordered that the relevant forum be approached.

On March 22, the election supervisor had delayed the provincial assembly election in the politically crucial Punjab province by more than five months, citing the deteriorating security situation in the cash-starved country.

Read ECP notifies Supreme Court's Punjab polls schedule

PTI chief Imran Khan had dissolved the Punjab and K-P assemblies in January this year in a bid to force the government to hold snap elections.

During the meeting, the PM Shehbaz welcomed all the parties’ leaders including PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Zardari and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

He said with the recent decisions of the apex court, a “mockery was being made with the Constitution and laws of the country”.

“Fate of the nation is being decided with strange decisions,” the premier said.

The premier noted that such “treatment” with the Constitution and law was never witnessed before, adding that "such a terrible scene has never met eyes".

The huddle mulled over tabling a resolution against the top court’s verdict in the National Assembly on Thursday (today).

The prime minister regretted that the SC bench had not made the political parties respondent in the case.

He said the three-member bench had rejected the appeal for the constitution of a full bench and similarly, political parties' requests were also rejected.

The premier elaborated that last week they held a detailed meeting, which was followed by two cabinet meetings and parliamentary sessions over the evolving situation.

“How a decision of another bench was neglected while members of the three-judge bench who had earlier recused themselves again joined it,” he questioned while referring to the inclusion of Justice Ijazul Ahsan in the bench.

Read more Dissolution of bench makes no difference, says Imran

Two apex court judges—Justice Ahsan and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi—on February 16 had requested Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to take suo motu notice of delay in announcement of polls in Punjab while hearing a service matter.

Subsequently, the CJP had started suo motu proceedings by forming a nine-judge bench to hear the matter despite the fact that the same matter had been pending in the Lahore High Court.

After judicial notes of some judges, CJP Bandial reconstituted a five judge larger bench to hear the matter. According to Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Ahsan and Justice Naqvi had recused themselves from hearing the matter.

Two more judges, who held that the suo motu case was unjustified, were also excluded from the bench.

Now questions were being raised as to how Justice Ahsan could hear the matter which he had earlier decided not to hear. However, CJP said there was nothing on record that Justice Ahsan had recused himself.

During the allied parties meeting, PM Shehbaz said that the “4-3” order of the apex court was not accepted.

Earlier, two SC judges, Justice Mansoor and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, in their detailed order had observed that the suo motu case in connection with the announcement of the election date was dismissed by 4-3.

Later during the hearing, Justice Mandokhail noted that the order of the court in the case was not issued by the CJP.

The premier lamented that a six-member Supreme Court bench had recalled the interim order authored by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, wherein postponement of suo motu cases was ordered till amendments were made in the SC Rules, 1980 regarding the discretionary powers of the chief justice to form benches.

A circular was issued over Justice Isa's directive, followed by the formation of a six-member bench that took up the issue and decided it, PM Shehbaz said.

On Tuesday, PM Shehbaz, while speaking in the lower house of parliament, did not hesitate in equating the top court verdict with the “judicial murder” of the late premier Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, pointing out that both had happened on April 4 – the day the PPP founder was hanged.

With input from APP