The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday adjourned hearing the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) plea seeking review of its April 4 order of holding elections to the Punjab Assembly on May 14.
The hearing — which was conducted by a three-member bench comprising the CJP, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — was put off till Thursday (June 1) shortly after it commenced.
During the hearing, the AGP raised objections to the bench, highlighting that the Supreme Court (Review of Judgements and Orders) Bill 2023 had become law after receiving the president’s assent.
He also submitted a notification, signed by the president, pertaining to the same in court.
The statement of objects and reasons of the bill, “it is necessary to ensure the fundamental right to justice by providing for meaningful review of judgments and orders passed by Supreme Court of Pakistan in exercise of its original jurisdiction under Article 184”.
The AGP raised objections to the three-judge panel hearing the case and said that the review could only be heard by a larger bench.
The law, passed by both the Senate and National Assembly earlier this month, states that it is necessary to ensure the fundamental right to justice by providing for a “meaningful review” of the apex court’s judgements and orders in the exercise of the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction, as described in Article 184 of the Constitution.
The deadlock over the holding of elections in two provinces arose after the PTI dissolved its governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab in January.
On April 4, SC underlined that ECP’s decision to postpone polls in Punjab till October 8 was unconstitutional.
The court ruled that the Constitution and law did not allow the ECP to postpone the elections, ordering that the elections in Punjab be held on May 14 instead of April 30.
