The Supreme Court on Thursday suspended the decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and the notification by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) concerning the establishment of election tribunals in Punjab.
The bench, comprises CJP Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, heard the case and announced the verdict.
The court ordered the LHC chief justice and the ECP to hold a “meaningful consultation” on the issue.
Earlier, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa rejected the objection of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on his inclusion in the larger bench.
Salman Akram Raja's counsel, Hamid Khan, filed a request for adjournment, while PTI's Advocate Niazullah Niazi objected to the chief justice's inclusion in the bench, arguing that his client believes he should not be a part of the bench.
The CJP dismissed the objection, stating that the current bench would proceed with the hearing and the bench proceeded with the case.
It may be recalled that on June 20, Chief Justice Isa had ordered placing the ECP’s appeal before the special committee under the Practice and Procedure Act, 2023, for constitution of a five-judge larger bench.
Meanwhile, the chief justice asked Salman Akram Raja about his objection to him (the CJP) to which he replied that he had no objection in his personal capacity.
