— Calls for formation of full court to deliberate upon Punjab polls
— Fazal accuses ‘few judges’ for trying to provide relief to Imran Khan
ISLAMABAD: The top leadership of the ruling alliance on Saturday expressed its mistrust in the three-member Supreme Court bench hearing the postponement of polls in Punjab and called for formation of a full court to deliberate upon the matter.
A three-member bench is currently hearing the PTI’s plea against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP’s) decision to postpone elections to the Punjab Assembly till October 8. The three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar was constituted after the original five-member bench was disbanded following the recusals of Justice Aminuddin Khan on Thursday and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail on Friday.
In this regard, the coalition government and its senior leaders sat together to discuss the current crisis situation and discussed various ways and means to deal with the stand-off between the ruling PDM alliance and the judiciary.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the meeting held to devise a future strategy for the government amid the country’s judicial crisis on top of long ongoing economic and political crises.
“The sad fact is that the chief justice of the Supreme Court wants to impose the decision of the minority on the decision of the majority. This conduct is not only a serious constitutional and political crisis in the country but also a clear example of deviation from the Constitution and prevailing legal procedures, which is also a clear violation of the basic concept of the division of powers of the state,” the statement added.
The meeting was referring to the Supreme Court’s 3-2 verdict issued on March 1 that elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab — both of which have been under caretaker governments since the provincial assemblies were dissolved in January — should be held within 90 days.
The bench was reconstituted to a five-member bench after four judges from the initial nine-member bench had raised objections on the constitution of the bench as well as the invocation of the apex court’s suo motu jurisdiction by the chief justice.
The PML-N coalition had rejected the verdict and insisted that it was a 4-3 verdict in the government’s favour. Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail — part of the original nine-member and reconstituted five-member bench — on Wednesday also said the suo motu hearing was dismissed by a majority of four to three.
Following the meeting, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, president of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) said Saturday the ruling alliance has no trust in the Supreme Court’s three-judge bench — headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial — hearing the election delay case.
“We have no faith in this court. PDM doesn’t trust the bench comprising these three judges,” asserts Fazl, who is also the chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), while addressing a press conference here in Islamabad.
The PDM president expressed his distrust after the ruling alliance — comprising 13 political parties — decided to boycott the said bench in a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore on Saturday where Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif also backed their decision.
During the presser, Fazl alleged that the chief justice and the other two judges should morally recuse themselves from this case. The PDM president alleged that a few judges want to provide relief to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan — whose party has filed a plea against the delay in the polls.
He further alleged that two major culprits of rigging are on the loose and no notice is being taken against them and said that elections should take place on the same day across the country to take place to keep the country united.
“Imran Khan wants divisions within institutions,” Fazl said, highlighting the impact of the PTI chief’s plea in the apex court.
