ISLAMABAD -UNS: Both the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday submitted their respective reports to the Supreme Court (SC) pertaining to the release of Rs21 billion for polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The directives for releasing the funds were 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 apex court had ordered the government 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 on whether or not the government complied with the order on April 11.
However, the government referred the matter to Parliament which defied the court’s orders and refused to issue the funds.
Last week, the electoral watchdog had submitted a report to the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope. Though the contents of the report are not known, a source privy to the information told Dawn that the one-page report informed the apex court about the government’s reluctance to issue the Rs21bn needed for the purpose.
Subsequently, the court had directed the SBP to release funds worth Rs21bn for elections from from Account No I — a principal component of the Federal Consolidated Fund worth Rs1.39 trillion — and send an “appropriate communication” to this effect to the finance ministry by April 17.
NA Finance Committee meeting
Earlier, National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance held a meeting on Monday and sent the summary, presented by federal law minister Azam Nazir Tarar before the NA, to the federal cabinet which, in turn, sent it back to the parliament.
This was announced by Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghaus-Pasha after the meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance. She said neither the SBP nor the Finance Divison had the authority to allocate funds from the Federal Consolidated Fund.
She said the allocation of funds required approval from parliament. “Without the approval of parliament, no bill or budget has any legal authenticity.”
