Chief Justice Pakistan's Historic Decision On Election Date

On Monday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan's three-judge panel resumed hearing the petition challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan's decision to postpone elections in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The court has deferred judgement and is expected to make an announcement on the matter on Tuesday. Chief Judge 'Umar Ata Bandial' began the proceedings by inquiring of PPP attorney Farooq H. Naek about a possible boycott by the PPP.

Chief Justice of Pakistan "Justice Umar Ata Bandial"

As the hearing got underway, the Attorney General of Pakistan, Mansoor Awan, appeared in court, joined by ECP attorneys Irfan Qadir and Sajeel Swati and PTI attorney Ali Zafar. The defence and finance secretaries were also present. Justice Akhtar asked, "How can you boycott the case and at the same time attend the hearing?" when it was reported in the media that the government had refused to participate in the case's proceedings and Mr. Naek was called upon to present his arguments. He also asked Mr. Naek to read the joint statement aloud and voiced his displeasure with the statement's language.

The Chief Justice asked the PPP's lawyer if he wanted to participate, and Mr. Naek said that the PPP would not be skipping the hearing. However, Justice Bandial pointed out that the newspapers had reported something different, and the PPP's lawyer explained that the PPP was concerned about the petition's maintainability. He claimed that the PTI petition was based on the SC's March 1 verdict in which the apex court instructed the president to select a date for elections in Punjab and the governor to select a date for polls in KP. The KP governor did not select a date until the petition was filed, he said. Justice Bandial then asked about the directions the AGP had received, and Mr. Awan said that the government worked under the Constitution and could not boycott the proceedings.

When asked how the ECP could announce October 8 as the date for voting, the Chief Justice of Pakistan explained that only the Supreme Court of Pakistan had the right to postpone elections. According to the CJP, the Supreme Court's circular did not supersede the order made by a bench presided over by Justice Qazi Faez Isa. Meanwhile, Justice Ahsan stated that the postponement of elections by the ECP was the real issue at hand, and that the commission was obligated to comply with court decisions.

Supreme Court of Pakistan, Islamabad

According to the AGP, nine judges sat on the bench at the initial hearings, but two of them dissented and ruled that the case should be thrown out. "On Feb 21, we received the ruling of the court which included dissenting notes from two judges," he explained.

However, the Chief Justice of Pakistan claimed that only one of the judges involved had ruled against the proceedings: "Judge Athar Minallah had not stated rejecting the motion in his dissenting letter." After the AGP contended that "Judge Yahya Afridi had concurred with Justice Minallah in his note," Justice Bandial ruled that the court had grasped Awan's position.

On February 27, a nine-judge panel referred the case to the CJP for reconstitution; Judge Akhtar noted that the new bench consisted of five judges. CJP Bandial added that court processes are public but consultations among judges are considered an internal affair, highlighting the importance of peace among judges for the Supreme Court.