Elections date case: The suo motu lawsuit concerning the postponement of the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be heard by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Today’s hearing will continue under the direction of a nine-judge panel that includes Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Munib Akhtar, Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Yahya Afridi, Athar Minallah, and Muhammad Ali Mazhar.
Last week, a number of the ruling alliance’s parties voiced their reservations regarding the selection of two judges on the nine-member court and demanded that the entire panel hear the important issue.
Farooq H Naek sought the court to establish a full bench so that the hearing on the suo motu notice may resume on behalf of the three parties, the PPP, PML-N, and JUI(F). The PDM attorney has asked the nine-member bench hearing the case to remove Justices Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi.
All parties did not show up today, according to the Attorney General, who informed the court that they had not received a copy of the order. CJP Bandial said at this point that the hearing’s objective was to inform the pertinent authorities of the suo motu notice.
Naek appeared before the bench to address this issue and read the PPP, JUI-F, and PML memorandum N’s outlining their objections to Justices Ahsan and Naqvi.
The attorney claimed that both judges had spoken their opinions after hearing Ghulam Mehmood Dogar’s request for restoration.
The attorney also provided a copy of the note Justice Mandokhail read aloud during yesterday’s session.
“Objection to Judges’ Appointment to Defend Fair Trial Right”
In order to defend the fundamental right to a fair trial and due process as promised by Article 10A, Naek declared that they were objecting to the two judges’ appointment to the bench.
Judge Minallah questioned the attorney about whether he thought a full court should be assembled for the case in light of this.
When asked why a full court should hear the suo motu notice over the delay in elections, Naek formally appealed for one and said, “Issue of election is of public [concern] there should be full court on this.”
The federal government, the attorney general, the electoral commission, the advocate generals of the four provinces, and the advocate general of the Islamabad Capital Territory received notices from the top court during the initial hearing on Thursday.
On February 22, CJP Bandial took notice of what appeared to be a postponement of the elections in the two provinces where the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had earlier in January disbanded the legislative bodies at Imran Khan’s direction.