Attorney General urges SC bench not to hear elections delay case
ISLAMABAD: Attorney General of Pakistan today filed a plea in the Supreme Court, urging the 3-member bench not to hear elections delay case.
Attorney General Mansoor Usman Anwar maintained that the government and the PDM parties have expressed no confidence in the SC’s bench. He said that a new bench, comprising judges other than the 3-member bench, be constituted to hear the case.
The Attorney General also file a petition on behalf of the government, seeking dismissal of PTI’s plea about delay in elections.
On Monday, the 3-member bench of the apex court resuming hearing of delay in elections in Punjab and KP provinces amid boycott of by the government.
On Saturday, the government and the PDM parties announced boycott of the 3-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by chief justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib.
PDM boycott of SC 3-member bench
Meanwhile, the PDM leaders held a crucial meeting in Lahore on Saturday at the residence of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss the latest situation after the chief justice dismissed PDM’s plea to form a full bench to hear the case. They also decided to boycott the 3-member SC bench.
On Friday, the CJP formed a three-member SC bench to hear a delay in elections after Justice Mandokhail recused to be part of the bench. The bench will resume hearing on Monday.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Saturday, PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the ruling alliance has no trust in the Supreme Court’s three-judge bench. Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial is the head of the bench while two judges in the bench are considered anti-government.
“We have no faith in this court. PDM doesn’t trust the bench comprising these three judges,” Maulana said.
Maulana addressed the meeting after the ruling alliance, involving 13 political parties decided to boycott the 3-member bench of the apex court.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, and other PDM leaders fully supported the decision to boycott the SC bench.
Nawaz Sharif demands full court hearing
A day earlier, the PML-N supremo gave a hint that the coalition government and the PML-N and its allied parties will not accept the decision of the Supreme Court bench hearing delay in polls in Punjab and KP.
Nawaz Sharif said, “Who will accept the verdict of the unaccepted bench?”. The National Assembly and Senate have already approved a new law abolishing the chief justice’s suo moto powers along with some of the key changes.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan Practice and Procedure Bill has been sent to the President of the country for signature, he added.
Even in 2017, Sharif said that such a bench was formed which made the future of Pakistan bleak. In 2018, he said, a ‘dirty joke’ was played with Pakistan that ruined the country,“ Nawaz Sharif said.
Citing prices of vegetables, the US dollar, sugar, electricity bill, flour, and other essential commodities, Nawaz Sharif said that his government (when he was PM) controlled the prices and gave relief to the masses.
PML-N supremo stated this while addressing a press conference in London on Friday amid reports of a split amongst the apex court judges over the ongoing suo moto hearing of delay in polls.
The SC bench has dissolved three times in recent days because of a difference of opinion among judges over suo moto and hearing of the case of delay in polls on a plea of the PTI.
