By Special Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial Thursday said that the Supreme Court (SC) will not tolerate the violation of the constitution as the apex court began its proceedings in the suo-moto pertaining to delay in the announcement of date for elections to the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.
The apex court said that it would determine who has the constitutional responsibility and authority to announce date for elections to a provincial assembly after it was dissolved in different situations, under the constitution. A nine-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Athar Minallah, heard the case.
The hearing comes after President Arif Alvi on Monday unilaterally announced April 9 as the election date in both provinces of Punjab and KP after his invitation for consultations on the matter was turned down by the ECP.
“SC to look into three issues”
At the outset of the proceedings, the chief justice noted that the apex court would look into three things and maintained that time for provincial elections was running out. Barrister Ali Zafar said that he wanted to bring “things related to the president on record”. Meanwhile, the Chief Justice said that Alvi had announced the elections date under Section 57 of the Elections Act, 2017. “Our request is also pending, please listen to us,” Zafar pleaded.
However, the top judge remarked, “We have to see who has the authority to give the election date after the dissolution of the assemblies.” At one point, the attorney general sought time in the case. “If notices are issued to so many people, it will be difficult to prepare for tomorrow(Friday) hearing,” he said. At that, the Chief Justice said that the court will restrict itself to essential things, and added that the detailed hearing of the case will be held on Monday.
CJ Bandial observed that the constitution decides the time for elections which is running. “The high court’s forum can be bypassed if there is an emergency. It was easier for us to fix two petitions — filed in the SC — for hearing.” “Section 57 deals with the date of elections,” he stated, pointing out that several new points had emerged in the case that needed to be explained.
The Chief Justice highlighted that after President Arif Alvi’s announcement of the election date, the situation has changed. “The SC only has to see the constitutional point and implement it,” he added. “We have suspended our schedule for the next week so that we could hear this case,” CJP Bandial said further.
Prior to the hearing, the Pakistan Bar Council said that the Chief Justice should not exclude Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Qazi Faez Isa from the bench constituted to hear the case to “make bench’s image impartial and neutral”.
The AGP said that representatives of the political parties and the government could be called to court to present their stance on the matter.
Subsequently, the court issued notices to the president, chief secretaries of the governors of Punjab and KP, ECP, the advocate generals of all the four provinces, president of the Islamabad Bar Council and Supreme Court Bar Council and instructed them to appear in the supreme court on February 27. The Pakistan Democratic Party and Pakistan Peoples’ Party were also issued notices to assist the court in the matter. For his part, Barrister Ali Zafar said that all the respondents should first come and apprise the court if they want elections or not. The hearing was then adjourned till February 24, 11am.
