ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) on Tuesday reserved its verdict in the suo motu notice case taken over the delay in the announcement of the date for elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces. The court will announce its reserved verdict tomorrow (Wednesday) at around 11:30 am.
A five-member apex court’s bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising of Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar conducted the hearings for two consecutive days — from Monday to Tuesday.
After all the parties involved in the case concluded their arguments, the Chief Justice thanked all the lawyers who assisted the court throughout the hearings. “I cannot say when we will be back to announce the verdict,” the CJP said. Although the verdict was expected today, the Chief Justice’s secretary said that the decision would be announced tomorrow.
The SC had also asked the political parties — the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the ruling alliance — to agree upon a mutual date for the elections, but they could not reach a consensus. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) lawyer asked the court to continue the proceedings as the coalition partners needed more time for consultation.
Supreme Court to determine responsibilities for holding elections
The apex court had taken the suo motu notice of the unconstitutional delay in the elections of the provincial assemblies, on February 23, following President Dr Arif Alvi’s announcement of the date of elections, a move that attracted strong criticism from the government.
According to the Chief Justice, the suo motu notice was taken to assess who was authorized to issue the date for elections and who had the constitutional responsibility of holding elections, and when.
A nine-member larger bench was constituted initially to hear the case; however, the bench was reconstituted after four judges — Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Athar Minallah, and Justice Yahya Afridi — of the bench recused themselves.
