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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday gave verdict with majority vote, 3-2, in favor of holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkwa in 90 days time, as described in the constitution. However, Justice Jamal Mandokhail and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah gave their dissenting notes, raising questions on the maintainability of the petition.
Also read: Supreme Court orders ECP to hold elections in Punjab and KP in 90 days
The two judges wrote:
i. The suo motu proceedings (SMC No. 1 of 2023), in the facts and circumstances of the case, are wholly unjustified in the mode and manner they were taken up under Article 184(3) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (“Constitution”), besides being initiated with undue haste.
ii. The Suo Motu Case No.1 of 2023 and the two Const. Petitions No. 1 & 2 of 2023 under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, in the light of the principles settled in Manzoor Ilahi1 and Benzair Bhutto2, do not constitute a fit case to exercise the extraordinary original jurisdiction of this Court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution and are thus not maintainable as the same constitutional and legal issues seeking the same relief are pending and being deliberated upon by the respective Provincial High Courts in Lahore and Peshawar, without there being any inordinate delay in the conduct of the proceedings before them.
iii. There is no justification to invoke our extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 184(3) to initiate suo motu proceedings or entertain petitions under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, as a single Bench of the Lahore High Court has already decided the matter in favour of the petitioner before the said High Court vide judgment dated 10.02.2023 and the said judgment is still in the field. The intra court appeals (ICAs) filed against the said judgment are pending before the Division Bench of the Lahore High Court (and none of the said petitioners has approached this Court under Article 185(3) of the Constitution).
