In a historic judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that elections must be held in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) within 90 days.
While delivering the divert, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Justice Umar Atta Bandial said, “democracy cannot live without assembly.”
In addition, the court determined that President Arif Alvi’s instructions are enforceable in Punjab but not in K-P.
The court decided, “If the governor dissolves the assembly, the governor will declare the election date.”
Meanwhile, the supreme court ordered that the president and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) must discuss before announcing elections in Punjab.
Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Jamal Khan Mandokhail dissented from the majority’s decision, resulting in a judgment with a 4-3 split. The decision was endorsed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.
The dissenting note argued that the suo motu could not be sustained.
Tuesday marked the conclusion of the two-day-long proceedings in the suo moto case conducted by Pakistan’s Chief Judge Umar Ata Bandial. The judge reserved the verdict and said it would be announced before 11 a.m. on Wednesday (today).
During Tuesday’s session, the chief justice stated they were there to protect the Constitution and not any one party. “We cannot abandon the Constitution,” he stated, adding that the Constitution could not be overridden.
After their dissolution earlier this year, the chief justice recently assembled a nine-person bench to hear the suo moto petition regarding the delay in announcing provincial elections in Punjab and K-P.
As concerns were raised about their attendance on the bench, Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi recused themselves at the beginning of Monday’s session.
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In the meantime, two other judges, Justices Afridi and Minallah, recused themselves from the proceedings and judged the maintainability of the petitions in question.
“Given the order dated 23.02.2023 and the additional notes attached to it by four of us (Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Athar Minallah), as well as our discussion/deliberations in the ante-Room of this Court, the matter is referred to the Hon’ble Chief Justice for reconstitution of the Bench,” states the court order signed by nine judges.
In his note, Judge Minallah, who did not disqualify himself, encouraged the establishment of the entire court to hear this case. Similarly, Judge Afridi, who also did not withdraw, stated that the chief justice should decide whether or not he should remain on the newly-constituted bench.
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