ISLAMABAD: The chief justice made it clear the Supreme Court will not tolerate the violation of the Constitution as the apex judicial forum commenced a suo motu hearing on Thursday to determine who has the responsibility and authority to announce the date for elections to a provincial assembly.
A nine-member larger bench, chaired by Umar Ata Bandial, and including justices Ijaz ul-Ahsan, Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Yahya Afridi, Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, and Athar Minallah, presided over the case.
The hearing follows President Dr Arif Alvi’s announcement of April 9 as the election date in both provinces, which he made unilaterally after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected his request for consultations on the matter.
The Supreme Court bench issued notices to the President, ECP, chief secretaries of Punjab and KP, the advocate generals of all the provinces, the president of the Supreme Court Bar Council and the Islamabad Bar Council in its suo moto case related to the announcement of the elections date in the two provinces.
The top judge further asserted that the Supreme Court will not tolerate the violation of the Constitution. “If there is a very serious situation, the time for elections can be extended. But we have to see if the Constitution is being implemented.” He added, “We want the implementation of the Constitution.” Moreover, the CJP highlighted that after President Alvi’s announcement of the election date, the situation changed. “The Supreme Court only has to see the constitutional point and implement it.”
He observed that elaboration was needed on the issue of elections and assured all the parties that the court would listen to their arguments. “We have suspended our schedule for the next week so that we can hear this case,” CJP Bandial said. Meanwhile, Justice Mandokhail raised some reservations regarding the suo motu notice taken by the CJP on the matter.
Justice Athar said that he was discussing the constitutional question in the case. “The first question would be whether the assemblies were dissolved as per the constitution,” he said. “The second question is whether the assembly should be looked at in terms of 184(3).” “In my opinion, all political parties [positions] should be heard,” Justice Akhtar said. “In a democracy, political parties form the government.” The AGP Elahi agreed, suggesting that political parties and the government should be allowed to voice their legal stance, so they could be called. Justice Minallah then said: “This is an important issue, it is about transparency and trust in the courts.”
Advocate Azhar Siddique — who has been representing the PTI in various cases — suggested High Court records should be summoned. However, the chief justice said today only notices would be issued.
Justice Bandial opened the hearing with a statement his court must examine three things and emphasized that time was running out for provincial elections.
Barrister Ali Zafar took the stand and sought to bring “things related to the president on record,” to which the judge responded that President Alvi had announced the election date under Section 57 of the Elections Act, 2017.
Zafar pleaded to hear their request, but the chief justice reiterated that the court had three issues to consider. He referred to the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) order of February 10, which directed the ECP to hold polls immediately, and said the court had several factors to consider.
At one point, Attorney General for Pakistan Shehzad Elahi requested time from the court. He said that issuing notices to so many people would make it difficult to prepare for the next day’s hearing. The judge responded the court would restrict itself to essential issues and hold a detailed hearing on Monday.
The chief justice stated that a suo motu notice was taken due to several factors, and that prolonged proceedings were underway in the high court while time was passing by.
