By Special Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: The nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan would take up the suo-moto notice on the delay in announcement of date for elections of the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies today (Thursday).
The case will be taken up at 2pm. A day earlier, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial took a suo motu notice to determine who has the constitutional responsibility and authority to announce the date for election to a provincial assembly after it was dissolved in different situations, under the constitution.
Keeping in view the significance of the matter, the Chief Justice set up a nine-judge SC bench to consider, among other questions, how and when was the constitutional responsibility of holding elections be discharged and what were the constitutional responsibilities and duties of the federation and the provinces with regard to holding of general elections?
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial will head the bench comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Athar Minallah.
Suo-moto notice
In his order, the Chief Justice observed that there was a lack of clarity on a matter of high constitutional importance. It further said the issues raised required immediate consideration and resolution by the Supreme Court. The decision was taken after a note was presented to the Chief Justice against the backdrop of a February 16 order by a two-judge bench asking the chief justice to invoke suo-motu jurisdiction in this regard.
Chief Justice Bandial also noted that the Lahore High Court has instructed the ECP to promptly declare the date for Punjab’s polls, and the Punjab governor and the ECP have lodged appeals within the court, which are currently under consideration. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governor had also not fixed a date for holding polls and a petition in this regard was pending before the Peshawar High Court, he added.
“It seems to be the governor’s case that since he did not act on the advice tendered by the then-chief minister and made no order dissolving the assembly, he does not have the responsibility or authority to appoint the date for the general election. The election commission has, it appears, also taken the position that under the Constitution it has no authority to appoint the date for a general election, though it has categorically stated (as reported in the public media, both print and electronic) that it is fully committed to conducting the said election in accordance with the Constitution.”
In light of the above, the CJP said: “I am of the view that the issues raised require immediate consideration and resolution by this court. Several provisions of the constitution need to be considered, as also the relevant sections of the Elections Act.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf are at odds on the issue of general elections in the country. Amid an atmosphere of hostility and acrimony, both the sides are not willing to sit together and hammer out a mechanism to steer the country out of the ongoing political and constitutional crisis.
