President of Pakistan can announce elections date, says CJP Bandial
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial today said that the President of Pakistan can announce a date for elections.
He said that the parliament has clearly defined in the Elections Act 2017, that the president can announce a date for elections.
CJP Bandial stated this on Monday while hearing the suo motu case. Bandial said that President Dr. Alvi observed that the Governors of KP and Punjab failed to announce the election date.
Consequently, the President of Pakistan announced the date for polls in Punjab and KP on April 9.
The CJP reconstituted the 9-member bench of the Supreme Court when four judges refused to hear the case on Monday.
Earlier, Justices Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Athar Minallah, and Justice Yahya Afridi recused themselves from hearing the case.
After hearing the case on Monday, the chief justice adjourned the hearing till Tuesday morning.
Now the five-member is led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and it consists of Justices Munib Akhtar, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Mansoor Ali Shah, and Mandokhail who conducted today’s hearing.
Meanwhile, on Monday four judges of the apex court, Justices Athar Minallah, Yahya Afridi, Ijazul Ahsan, and Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi refused to hear the suo motu case.
CJP reconstituted the apex court bench comprising five judges.
Earlier, the coalition parties in the PDM _ PML-N, PPP, JUI-F, and Pakistan Bar Council raised objections to the two judges of the Supreme Court. In their petition, they urged Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Ijazul Ahsan to dissociate from hearing the suo motu case.
On Friday, the political parties in the PDM demanded a full court for hearing the suo motu case. The PDM lawyer Farook H. Naik submitted this request to the Supreme Court on Friday during the hearing of the case.
The lawyer of the PDM also urged the two judges of the Supreme Court, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi to withdraw from the suo motu case.
It may be noted that on February 22, the Chief Justice of Pakistan took suo motu notice of a delay in the Punjab and KP assemblies’ polls.
