ISLAMABAD -UNS: The Supreme Court on Friday directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to release funds worth Rs21 billion for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and send an “appropriate communication” to this effect to the finance ministry by Monday (April 17).
“The sum of Rs21bn shall be and become available to and with the election commission in immediately releasable and utilisable funds for the purposes of holding the general elections to the Punjab and KP assemblies,” the court order read.
The court also observed that the required funds could be made available to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) “immediately and within a matter of a day”. It also noted that there was “absolutely no difficulty or hitch, either financially or procedurally or in terms of the relevant authorisation by and under the Constitution” in the immediate release of the funds in question.
The directives for the release of the said funds were earlier issued by a three-member SC bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, in an April 4 verdict. The government was directed to provide Rs21bn to the ECP to conduct elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by April 10, and directed the ECP to provide a report to the court on whether or not the government complied with the order on April 11.
The ECP, in a one-page report submitted earlier this week, informed the court about the government’s reluctance to issue the amount needed for elections.
The government, meanwhile, had referred the matter to Parliament to decide. A day earlier, the parliament defied the SC order and refused to issue the elections funds.
Subsequently, the top court issued notices to the finance secretary, SBP governor, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan and the ECP, directing them to appear before the judges’ chamber on April 14. It also directed the SBP to submit the record and details of all monies whatsoever of the federal government lying with or under the control, custody or management of the bank.
In line with the court’s directives, AGP Awan, SBP Deputy Governor Sima Kamil, finance secretaries and officials of the ECP in an in-chamber hearing today briefed the SC on the government’s failure to disburse Rs21 billion in funds for elections in Punjab and KP.
The briefing — which lasted for more than an hour — was held in the chamber of CJP Bandial, with Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Munib Akhtar in attendance.
