CJP suggests dialogue between govt,PTI: SC rejects AGP’s request for full court in election delay case

ISLAMABAD -UNS: The Supreme Court of Pakistan rejects government’s request for full court.A diminished Supreme Court bench — comprising three judges — on Friday rejected Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan’s request for the formation of a full court to hear PTI’s petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to postpone elections to the Punjab Assembly till Oct 8.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the case after the original five-member bench constituted for the matter was disbanded following the recusals of Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.
The original bench included:Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial,Justice Ijazul Ahsan,Justice Munib Akhtar,Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail,Justice Aminuddin Khan.
The recusal of Justice Mandokhail, which came a day after Justice Khan, took the apex court by surprise today and fuelled calls from government figures to constitute a full court to hear the case.
However, it was CJP Bandial, Justice Ahsan and Justice Akhtar who conducted the proceedings.
AGP says Pakistan running a deficit of Rs1,500 billion and interest rate expected to rise.SC summons secretaries of finance and defence to court; hearing adjourned till April 3.
During the hearing, when the AGP requested the formation of a full court, Justice Bandial remarked that the court had conducted proceedings into the case for three complete days and that the inclusion of new judges to the bench will further waste time.
“It will take time for the new judges to understand the case,” he observed, adding that Article 184(3) of the Supreme Court Rules 1980 was clear on the matter.
Justice Akhtar also said that it was everyone’s right to request a full court but the government giving the impression that benches were formed on “favouritism” was a serious accusation. “The Supreme Court has said that the CJP s the master of makes benches,” he added.
‘Monday’s sun will bring good news’:
As the proceeding commenced today, the chairman of the executive committee of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) appeared before the bench. However, the CJP said that the court will hear his arguments later.
“The bar has nothing to do with supporting anyone,” PBC’s Hasan Raza Pasha stated. “If not a full court bench, you can call a full court meeting.”
The CJP responded that he was pondering over it and went on to say that the SC judges shared good relations.
“Media persons sometimes say wrong things but the court always shows restraint,” the CJP remarked, adding that he would hold some meetings after the hearing. “Monday’s sun will rise with good news.”
CJP suggests dialogue between government, PTI
As he began, the AGP first requested the court to reduce the temperature within it, stressing that everywhere in the country, the [political] temperature needed to be brought down.
“What did you do to reduce the friction?” the CJP asked here to which Awan replied that the temperature would only cool down with time.
“The court has always given precedence to the Constitution,” Justice Bandial asserted, recalling that judges in the past were taken out of their offices and jailed in their houses. “It is a miracle that they returned to the office, but some of the best judges in the 1990s could not come back.”
He maintained that the Constitution kept democracy alive. “Those who were in jail until yesterday are giving speeches in assemblies today and the reason for this is that they are representatives of the public.
“An assembly has a tenure and the head of the house has the right to dissolve it,” he said highlighting that the 90-day stipulated time for announcing elections was coming to a close in April.
The Punjab Assembly was dissolved on Jan 14. After back and forth with the ECP, President Arif Alvi had selected April 30 for polls in the province.
During the hearing today, the CJP noted that the date for the election suggested by the president was already beyond the 90-day time period. “The president was not briefed about the situation by the ECP.“If they had done it, the president would not have given the date for April 30,” he said, pointing out that the matter in front of the court was of Oct 8.
“The court is not sitting here to increase problems. Either give us concrete reasons or commence a dialogue. One respondent [the PTI] is already giving the guarantee of its chairman. The government too will have to move on.”
The CJP further said that the tenure of the assemblies would be completed in August. “We can take a break for a few days if the government and opposition want to hold negotiations. If the negotiations don’t work out, we fulfil our constitutional role.”
But first, he continued, tell the court about the Rs20 billion expenditure on the elections. The CJP also recalled that he had suggested a cutback on government expenditures earlier.
The CJP then highlighted the issue of terrorism in the country, saying that half of the polling stations were either sensitive or highly sensitive. “Only saying that there is terrorism in the country is not enough. Terrorism has been around since the 90s.