In defiance of the Supreme Court’s directives, the National Assembly passed a motion proposed by the Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue concerning withholding funds for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The NA committee had earlier submitted a motion to the federal cabinet, advising against the release of Rs21 billion required for conducting elections. The cabinet subsequently forwarded the issue to the National Assembly for consideration.
During the National Assembly session, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar presented the committee’s findings, which were then approved by the lower house of parliament.
In a press conference earlier that day, Tarar stated that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had “no role” in disbursing the funds and emphasized that the responsibility lay with the National Assembly and the Ministry of Finance and Revenue.
Tarar reiterated this stance on the house floor and criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to schedule the Punjab election on May 14 as an effort to “please one man,” seemingly referring to former Prime Minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan. However, he highlighted that parliament had already passed a resolution to hold elections nationwide simultaneously.
On April 14, the Supreme Court ordered the central bank to allocate Rs21 billion for the Punjab elections and instructed it to send an “appropriate communication” to the finance ministry by April 17.
A three-judge Supreme Court panel, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and including Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, held an in-chamber hearing the previous week on the government’s failure to comply with the April 4 order. They then directed the central bank to release the necessary funds.
This decision followed a report submitted by the electoral body to the apex court, stating that the Ministry of Finance had not provided the funds mandated by the three-judge panel on April 4.
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