By Special Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan will hear the petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and others against the ‘unconstitutional’ delay in the elections to the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assemblies, today (Monday 2 p.m.).
The PTI and others including Awami Muslim League head, Sheikh Rashid, a close ally of the PTI, had moved the apex court to set aside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s order to put off Punjab Assembly elections till October 8. The petition, moved by Secretary General PTI Asad Umar, Speaker Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, Speaker Punjab Assembly Mohammad Sibtain Khan, and ex-lawmakers of Punjab, Abdul Rehman and Mian Mahmood-ur-Rashid pleaded that the Commission’s decision was in violation of the constitution and tantamount to amending and subverting it.
SC bench
The five-member bench comprises Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ejaz-ul-Ahsan, Justice Aminud Din, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.
It is to mention here Justice Ahsan and Justice Naqvi — whose inclusion to the original bench hearing suo-moto case was opposed by the coalition government and the Pakistan Bar Council — as well as Justice Minallah and Justice Afridi have distanced themselves from the nine-member bench who was originally announced to take up suo-moto case against the delay in the polls. “These four judges have shown grace and stepped away from the bench,” said the chief justice at the outset of the suo-moto hearing.
It is to mention here that on March 22, the Election Commission of Pakistan had put off the Punjab Assembly elections for over five months citing deteriorating security situation in the country and unavailability of the security personnel.
The Supreme Court had earlier, in a 3-2 verdict, ruled that elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa — both of which have been under interim governments since the provincial assemblies were dissolved in January — should be held within 90 days. “Parliamentary democracy is a salient feature of the Constitution. There can be no parliamentary democracy without Parliament or the provincial assemblies,” the ruling read. “And there can be neither Parliament nor provincial assemblies without the holding of general elections as envisaged, required and mandated by and under the Constitution and in accordance therewith”.
The CJP emphasised that Article 254, which legalises any failure to comply with certain requirements within a stipulated period, did not give licence to anybody to overcome the constitutional obligation of holding the elections within 90 days since the elections have to be held even in eventualities like war or other calamities. If the law is silent, still neither the executive authority nor parliament or any constitutional body has the power to exceed the time limit of 90 days of holding the elections except for the court, but then the court had to be satisfied with the overriding challenges in the way of conducting free and fair elections, the CJP observed.
Earlier, the top judge had taken suo-moto notice of the delay in holding elections in Punjab and KP, saying that there appeared to be a “lack of clarity” on the matter.
