ISLAMABAD: Justice Aminuddin Khan on Thursday recused himself from a five-member bench hearing the election delay case after a Supreme Court order halted proceedings under Article 184(3).

The Supreme Court was set to resume the hearing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) plea against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP’s) decision to defer the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 11:30 but the hearing was delayed following Justice Aminuddin’s recusal.

A five-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail has been hearing the case daily since Monday.

The PTI moved the apex court following the ECP decision to postpone the Punjab polls from April 30 to October 8 after financial and security authorities expressed their inability to support the electoral process.

During yesterday’s hearing, Justice Mandokhail debated the merits of the case as the order of the court was yet to be issued by the Supreme Court.

One of the hotly contested points in the plea is that the March 1 verdict of the Supreme Court was stuck down by a 4-3 majority or was accepted by a 3-2 majority.

While the Supreme Court has also sought assurance from the government to tone down the political temperature of the country.