Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial. — Website/Supreme Court of Pakistan


Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial. — Website/Supreme Court of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial Wednesday night took a suo motu notice of an apparent delay in the elections of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and also formed a larger bench to hear the case.

The development comes two days after President Dr Arif Alvi fixed April 9 as the date for elections to the provincial assemblies of Punjab and KP — the move condemned by the government as “unconstitutional and illegal”.

Amid the situation, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) sought guidance from the attorney general of Pakistan (AGP) and other legal experts — but no official announcement has been made so far.

The nine-member bench includes:

  • Justice Umar Ata Bandial
  • Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan
  • Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah
  • Justice Munib Akhtar
  • Justice Yahya Afridi
  • Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi
  • Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail
  • Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar
  • Justice Athar Minallah

The bench will hear the case tomorrow (Thursday) at 2pm. The matter was sent to the chief justice seeking the suo motu by a two-member Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi in the Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Mehmood Dogar case on February 16.

According to the apex court’s notification, the bench will assess who is eligible to issue the date for polls, the constitutional responsibility of the federation and provinces, and who will fulfil the constitutional responsibility of conducting elections and when.

“It is the government’s responsibility to conduct elections in Punjab and KP according to the Constitution,” the top court’s notification read.

The Supreme Court added that the two provincial assemblies were dissolved on January 14 and 18, respectively. “Under Article 224 (2), polls should be held within 90 days of the assembly dissolution. The Constitution mandates that polls be held within 90 days.”

The country’s top court also said that requests for the date of elections were also received from the Islamabad High Court bar, and speakers of KP and Punjab assemblies.

CJP’s statement

The CJP, in the statement, highlighted how the two assemblies were dissolved and almost immediately after the dissolution a question was raised as to who had the constitutional responsibility and authority to appoint the date of the general election to obtain the mandate of the electorate and elect fresh assemblies.

“It is to be noted that Article 224(2) requires that a general election be held within a period of 90 days after the dissolution, and the use of the word “shall” indicates that this is, prima facie, a constitutional imperative,” he added.

CJP Bandial further said that in respect of the appointment of the date for the holding of the general elections to the dissolved provincial assemblies there are several petitions already filed in various courts of Pakistan.

“By judgement dated 10.02.2023 a learned single judge in Chambers concluded that the authority lay with the ECP and called upon the same to immediately announce the date of election of the provincial assembly of Punjab with the notification specifying reasons, after consultation with the governor of Punjab, being the constitutional head of the province, to ensure that the elections are held not later than ninety days as per the mandate of the Constitution.

“Reportedly both the governor and the election commission have filed Intra Court Appeals which are pending before a learned Division Bench of the high court.”

The chief justice mentioned that as the governor did not act on the advice tendered by the then chief minister Parvez Elahi and made no order dissolving the assembly, he does not have the responsibility or authority to appoint the date for the general election.

“The Election Commission has, it appears, also taken the position that under the Constitution it has no authority to appoint the date for a general election, though it has categorically stated (as reported in the public media, both print and electronic) that it is fully committed to conducting the said election in accordance with the Constitution.

“At the same time, the governor of KP province has also not appointed a date for the holding of the general election and a petition in this regard is pending before the Peshawar High Court,” he mentioned.


More to follow…

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