The Supreme Court on Monday resumed the hearing of the suo motu case regarding the delay in the announcement of the date of the provincial elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).
\nA five-member larger bench of the apex court, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, is conducting the hearing.
\nJustice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar are part of the bench.
\nSupreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Abid Zuberi, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Shehzad Ata Elahi and President Dr Arif Alvi\u2019s counsel Salman Akram Raja are present in court. JUI’s Kamran Murtaza is also present.
\nDuring his arguments, the AGP contended that the SCBA president\u2019s name was removed from the court order even though the SC recognised it as an institution.
\nCJP Bandial stated that what was presented in the court was not a court order, and would become a decree if the judges overruled it.
\nThe AGP objected to SCBA bar president Abid Zuberi for representing the bar as he was the lawyer of the petitioner.
\nZuberi maintained that he was a lawyer of the bar and not a political party. He furthered that the Supreme Court declared in the past that the elections must be held in 90 days.
\nJustice Jamal stated the president and the governor are bound by the advice of the cabinet in the matter and questioned if the president and governors could give the date of the election on their own.
\nTo this, Justice Bandial stated that the governor is not bound by anyone’s advice on the appointment of the caretaker government and the date of the election.
\n\u201cWhere there is discretionary authority, there is no need for advice,\u201d Justice Mazhar said.
\nWhen asked by the CJP who notified the dissolution of the assembly, Zuberi stated that the Punjab Assembly dissolution notification was issued by the secretary of law.
\nJustice Jamal maintained that Article 48 of the Constitution of Pakistan stated that every act and action of the president shall be on the recommendation of the government, and questioned if the current government or the previous regime would call for the election announcement.
\nJustice Bandial said that accordingly, the date of the election will be given with advice.
\nZuberi stated that there were four methods of dissolution of the assembly in the Constitution.
\nJustice Muneeb said that the caretaker government was formed after seven days after the dissolution of the assembly. He furthered that it was necessary to harmonise the various clauses of the Constitution.
\n\u201cIn the case of Punjab, the Ministry of Law issued the notification, not the governor,\u201d Justice Mazhar said.
\nZuberi stated that according to Article 112 of the constitution, the government could end on a no-confidence motion or within 48 hours.
\nJustice Jamal said that according to the constitution, even today the government could ask the governor to announce the date for elections. Justice Shah questioned how the governor could refuse advice regarding if the advice came for the government\u2019s dates.
\n\u201cA caretaker government came to Punjab on January 22. The authority of the caretaker government is to run daily affairs,\u201d Zuberi said.
\nJustice Muneeb stated that the 90-day time to hold polls began with the dissolution of the assembly and asked why time was being wasted after the dissolution of the PA.
\nJustice Shah asked if the caretaker chief minister could advise the governor to give the date of the election and if the governor could reject the advice of the caretaker government.
\nZuberi stated that the election date and supervisory setup were announced together and that the authority to provide the date of the election belongs to the governor and not the caretaker chief minister.
\nJustice Mazhar maintained that the constitution was clear that the governor would announce the poll date when the assembly was dissolved and that the governor’s authority to give a date was different from other usual factors.
\nJustice Jamal questioned if there was a restriction on the caretaker government that barred it from asking the governor to propose a date. He further asked if the summary could not be sent to the governor.
\nZuberi stated that the constitution detailed that elections were to be held in 90 days and questioned what the caretaker government could do if it had not given any advice yet.
\nThe CJP stated that the court would also hear the AGP\u2019s arguments regarding the matter of the advice of the caretaker cabinet.
\nZuberi continued that the president was given certain powers by the Constitution and the Elections Act, and under the Election Act he could give a date for the elections after consulting the ECP.
\nThe CJP questioned why the president delayed providing a date, to which Zuberi stated that the president\u2019s counsel could better answer thid.
\nJustice Bandial then asked who the governor must consult for announcing poll dates. Zuberi stated that the consultation could only be done with the ECP.
\nJustice Mazhar stated that the question was that the governor said he did not dissolve the assembly.
\nZuberi said the mention of giving an election date is only in Article 105 (3) of the Constitution.
\nJustice Mandokhail said there was no restriction on giving the date for the election of the government. To this, Zuberi stated that the election had not been announced for several days.
\nThe CJP questioned if the SCBA president was claiming that the incumbent government was not fulfilling its constitutional responsibility. He added that conducting elections in 90 days was the spirit of the Constitution.
\nZuberi stated that if the PA was dissolved under the pressure of time, the president could give an electoral date. Giving his opinion, Zuberi said that announcing poll dates was the authority of the president of the country.
\n\u201cIf the Election Commission shows an incapacity to conduct elections, is the governor still bound to give the date,\u201d Justice Shah questioned. Zuberi replied that the governor was bound to give the date in every case.
\nJustice Mazhar said the governor will give the date keeping in mind the decisions of the Election Commission.
\n\u201cCan the President take any decision without the advice of the Cabinet?\u201d Justice Shah asked.
\nJustice Jamal maintained that the powers of the president were clear in the Constitution and that he was bound by advice.
\nZuberi stated that the president was not obliged to give advice for everything and could exercise every power given to him under the law.
\n\u201cThe president and the governor are only bound to consult the ECP,\u201d Zuberi said.
\nJustice Shah stated that the president as head of state could only take decisions only on advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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