A five-member bench of the Supreme Court will continue to hear Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa election date suo motu notice after four judges disassociate themselves from the proceedings, Aaj News has learnt.

The four judges are Justice, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi.

Meanwhile, the five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial includes, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Munib Akhtar, Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar. The reconstituted bench began hearing the case around 1:30pm after two delays.

A written order was issued on the SC’s website in which dissenting notes of Justice Afridi, Justice Minallah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah had been included.

The third hearing of the case was delayed twice at 11:30 and again at 12:30. Sources said that the proceedings were delayed due to an informal meeting between the judges.

Election Act says president can give elections date: CJP Bandial

It was the responsibility of the governor to issue the order for dissolving the assembly, the court said, adding that the governor would also give a date for the elections.

Can the election commission conduct the election by itself if the governor did not give the date, the court asked. To this, the lawyer of both the speakers, Ali Zafar, said that the ECP was a constitutional institution and it should have the authority.

“It is written in the Election Act that the president of the nation can give the date for elections,” CJP Bandial said and wondered “how can the intention of the parliament be evaluated?”

Justice Shah said that the ECP has to do all the election work and wondered what would happen if there was a war or an earthquake on election day. “Even if the governor gives a date, natural calamities can happen.”

In his reply, Barrister Zafar said that the commission has recommended dates to governors, adding that war was nowhere mentioned in law. An emergency could be imposed, he added.

‘We don’t want to interfere in matters of Parliament’

CJP Bandial remarked that the court should not interfere in the matters of Parliament.

At one point, Justice Akhtar wondered how the country’s situation was good enough for cricket matches but “[somehow] elections cannot happen”.

He questioned how elections could be postponed on the basis of financial constraints.

The hearing was adjourned till 9:30am tomorrow (Tuesday) at the conclusion of Barrister Zafar’s arguments.

SC issues notices to president, governors

The court also issued notices to the president and the governors of KP and Punjab. Notices have also been issued to the Election Commission of Pakistan and the attorney general as well as the PDM, PPP, and PTI. The notices have invited replies on February 27.

The chief justice remarked that the proceedings will begin in earnest on Monday, and the court will try to wrap up the case as soon as possible.

KP, Punjab Assemblies

During the hearing, the possibility of restoring the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies was raised by at least two judges.

Justice Athar Minallah remarked that it is worth seeing if the assemblies were dissolved as per the law. He said it needed to be seen if the assemblies were dissolved on the instruction of a political leader.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that if the court concluded that the assemblies were not dissolved according to the law, they could be restored.

At the outset of the hearing, Justice Jamal Mandokhail expressed reservations on suo motu notice being taken on the issue. The CJP replied that the requests from the speakers from the assembly were received before the court took notice itself.

Justice Mandokhail also said that a judge whose audio leaks had recently come to the surface was also part of the bench. He also said that election delay, in his view, was not a case of fundamental rights under Article 184.

The chief justice also remarked that the court will not tolerate any violation of the constitution. He also added that elections can be delayed under extreme circumstances.

The attorney general asked the court to delay proceedings as one-day’s notice was not enough to prepare a case. The CJP replied that Friday’s proceedings will be limited to some brief but important matters only.

Justice Muneeb Akhtar remarked that all the major parties should be made parties in the case, since in a democracy it is political parties who form the government.

The suo motu notice

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial took notice of the delay in elections, a press release issued from the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. A nine-member bench was formed for the case.

The nine-judge bench is:

• 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

Puisne judge Justice Faez Isa is not on the bench.

Social media is abuzz with claims that the bench was not formed on the principle of seniority. However, it is the prerogative of the CJP to form a bench as he deems fit.

A group of lawyers has also filed a reference against Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi soon after the nine-member bench was constituted.

On February 16, a two-judge bench of the apex court hearing a case about the transfer of the Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Mehmood Dogar sent the matter of general elections in Punjab to the Chief Justice for suo motu notice.

The apex court in its release on Wednesday said that the bench will focus on three points:

• It will assess who is eligible to issue the date for polls,
• It will decide on the constitutional responsibility of the federation and provinces,
• It will determine 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 release read.

Maryam wants Imran to face court before elections

The elections would be held only after PTI chief Imran Khan would be brought to the court of law for his apparent selling of state gifts, PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz said on Monday.

“Elections will be held after Imran Khan will be brought to a court of law. First words like ‘Sicilian mafia’ and ‘Godfather’, which were used for Nawaz Sharif, should be removed then elections should be held,” she said at the workers’ convention in Sahiwal.

She was speaking in reference to the Panama case proceedings against her father and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. A five-member bench of the Supreme Court that heard the Panama Papers case — comprising Justices Asif Saeed Khosa, Ejaz Afzal Khan, Gulzar Ahmed, Sheikh Azmat Saeed, Ijazul Ahsan – had disqualified Sharif from holding the office of prime minister in 2017 over denying an asset or defending a trust deed.

Maryam, who is tasked with reorganizing the party with a new role, claimed the country starting to suffer from the Panama bench. She described the judges which head the case as “notorious (badnam-e-zamana)”.

She supported her claims by recalling the “testimonies” of former judges Arshad Malik and Shaukat Aziz.

“Why you persistently dissolve assemblies. Chaudhry Pervaiz did not want to do it. Who pressurised him to take such a decision,” she asked in front of the crowd and claimed that the PTI chief was still “getting support”.

Reiterating her demand for justice, she said: “Elections will be held after he [Imran Khan] will appear in front of the court 200 times and his wife will attend court. We are not afraid of elections but first ensure us that justice will be served and the next day organise polls.”

Earlier, Interior Minister claimed that the country was facing a “judicial crisis” because of Imran Khan

“Right now, the country has become buhranistan and only one face behind this is fitna khan,” he said before Maryam stepped forward the lectern to speak.

He claimed that the PTI chief’s decision to dissolve Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies led the country to a judicial crisis. He lamented the development in the Supreme Court bench formed to hear suo motu proceedings regarding the delay in the announcement of a date for elections in the two provinces.