KP, Punjab Poll Case: SC rejects request for formation of full court bench

Islamabad: The Supreme Court (SC) rejected the request of Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan seeking the top court to constitute a full court bench to hear the case about the delay in elections of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

A 3-member bench of the top court headed by CJP Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the petition of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf against the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan for postponing the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A four-member bench of the top court was dissolved after Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail recused himself from the case. After this, the Chief Justice of Pakistan constituted a new 3-member bench, and a supplementary cause list was issued.

At the outset of the hearing, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Chairman Executive Council Hasan Pasha arrived at the court rostrum and prayed to form a full court bench to decide the matter. He requested the bench to hold a full court meeting if the full court bench couldn’t be constituted.

The Chief Justice remarked that the court would hear him later. He also observed that some people had been “criticizing the judges”, adding that the court would also view this matter.

Meanwhile, the attorney general said that there was a need to decrease political tension in the country as it would reduce with the passage of time.

The chief justice remarked that this court had always preferred to hold the supremacy of the Constitution. He remarked that the assembly had a term of five years but the “head of the house has the authority to dissolve it”.

The CJP reminded that the 90-day time period was going to end in the month of April after the dissolution of two provincial assemblies. The president himself had to announce the date of the elections in Punjab, adding that the ECP had not briefed the president on why it was not announcing the date.

The chief justice remarked that the court was not sitting here to create difficulties, adding that there was the question before it related to the postponement of elections till October 8. The CJP said that the court could hold a break in the proceedings for some days if the government and opposition sit together to find a way out of this quagmire, otherwise the court would play its constitutional role.

Justice Bandial said that citing terrorism incidents in the pretext to delay the polls was not enough as the issue was continuously persisting since 1990s.

The AGP said that the first point is the dissenting note of Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, the second was the clarification of the ratio of the judgment of March 1, and the third point was on which ground the verdict was made.

The chief justice remarked that who had stated that two members of the bench had separated from it, adding that instead the matter was sent to his office for re-constitution of the bench. He could change all the judges of the bench if he wanted, the CJP observed.

The chief justice said that the matter regarding freezing of hearing on would be discussed internally by the judges and the matter would be addressed soon. The CJP said that the judges were even not able to respond to the criticism, he said.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that he thought about all judges while constituting a nine-member bench.

Referring to the suo motu proceedings on elections in KP and Punjab, the CJP observed that he constituted the bench as he found Justice Athar Minallah coherent with the constitution. He also went on to laud the constitutional expertise of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan.

The chief justice remarked that the judges were being criticized based on hearsay. He remarked that the top court stands united and agrees on several points.

He remarked that no one was noticing how the judiciary and judges were being targeted and how judges were being criticized based on alleged audiotapes.

Meanwhile, the court summoned the secretary of the interior and secretary of finance and adjourned the case till Monday.