ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court of Pakistan will hear the suo motu case regarding delay in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections.
A nine-member bench, spearheaded by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar will resume the hearing today.
Last week, several parties of ruling alliance expressed concerns over inclusion of two judges of the nine-member bench, calling for a full bench to hear crucial case.
Farooq H Naek, on behalf of the three parties including PPP, PML-N and JUI(F), urged court to form full bench to resume the hearing of the suo motu notice. The PDM lawyer had also requested Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi to recuse themselves from the nine-member bench currently hearing the case.
The Attorney General told the court that they had not received the copy of the order which is why all parties did not appear today. At this, CJP Bandial remarked that the purpose of today’s hearing was to inform the relevant authorities about the suo motu notice.
On this point, Naek came before the bench and read out the note of PPP, JUI-F and PML-N regarding their objections to Justice Ahsan and Justice Naqvi.
The lawyer said that both the judges had made their observations on the matter when the heard Ghulam Mehmood Dogar’s plea regarding his restoration.
The counsel also shared the note read out by Justice Mandokhail in yesterday’s hearing.
Naek stated that they were objecting to the two judges inclusion in the bench in the “interest of justice, fair play and to protect the fundamental right to fair trial and due process as guaranteed under Article 10A”.
On this, Justice Minallah asked the lawyer if he felt there was a need to form a full court for the case.
“Matter of election is of public [importance] there should be full court on this,” responded Naek and formally appealed for a full court to hear the suo motu notice on the delay in elections.
In the initial hearing on Thursday, the apex court issued notices to the federal government, attorney-general, election commission, advocate-generals of the four provinces, and advocate-general of the Islamabad Capital Territory.
On February 22, CJP Bandial took the notice of an apparent delay in the elections in the two provinces where the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) dissolved the legislative assemblies at the behest of party chief Imran Khan in mid-January.
More to follow…
