Constitution to be followed if govt-PTI talks fail, warns CJP

Justice Bandial says there will be consequences if court order is not complied with n ‘We want political forces to sit down and find out solution of present political crisis’ n Says ‘Our neighbour (Parliament) is criticizing us, but we will not respond to political statements.

 

ISLAMABAD    -    Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Ban­dial Friday announced that the Supreme Court will give an ‘appropriate’ verdict in the petitions related to the elections.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar conduct­ed hearing of the peti­tions of Sardar Kashif Khan and others.

During the hearing, the CJP said that they cannot close their eyes on constitutional man­date, which talks about holding of elections within 90 days. He add­ed that no one has chal­lenged the court’s or­der to hold elections in Punjab on May 14. He further said that under the Constitution all the organs of State func­tion and the executive are bound to imple­ment court’s order, if it does not comply the court’s or­der then there will be conse­quence of it.

He continued that they want­ed that the political forces sit down and find out the solution of the present political crisis. Therefore, in good faith they have shown restraint. He add­ed that they want the country make progress. He said that there have been wars in many countries, and cited the exam­ple of Turkey, where earth­quake devastated the country, saying despite the earthquake the elections were held there.

The Chief Justice said that the nations show the determina­tion to follow the Constitution and law. He questioned that why date of October 8 is so sig­nificant. He said that it was not Court’s intention to pass any direction or order. He said still the government has not filed review petition against our order dated April 4, 2023. He said that it is argued that so far the matter be left to the polit­ical process but he added that they would pass an order. He said that the court is facilitat­ing a process, and asked Shah Mehmood that the date will be finalised, but for a date there must be any criteria.

He said, “Our neighbour (Parliament) is criticizing us, but we would not respond to the political statements.” He added, “We have taken oath to protect and defend the Consti­tution.” Khawaja Saad, appear­ing on behalf of the govern­ment negotiations team, said that no one wants conflict be­tween the institutions. He told that the other side is not will­ing to show flexibility as they (govt) have made endeavour, and it is also the desire of the apex court that the matter be resolved through dialogue. Both sides have to be serious and come up with some solu­tion. He said that if the elec­tions are held in the Punjab now then there will be dire consequences as when the Na­tional Assembly elections will be conducted then in Punjab there will be government and not the caretaker government. He emphasized that there is trust deficit among the insti­tutions, and complained that since 2017 the Supreme Court had been vindictive to his par­ty and other parties in the gov­ernment.

He said that surely the Con­stitution demands that the elections should be held with­in 90 days after the dissolu­tion of the assembly. However, the other provisions demand that the elections be held in free, fair and in transparent manner. He said if the Punjab elections are held now then it would enhance bitterness among the people. The win­ning parties may like the elec­tions, but other parties would not accept it, then another cri­sis would emerge. The PML-N leader said that the country could be saved from crisis if the elections are held same day across the country. The Pakistan Democratic Move­ment (PDM) which compris­es 13 political parties wanted the elections are held simul­taneously. He requested the Court to take suo moto to add those things which were left out by the government, adding the Court had been taking suo moto on many issues, so why not a suo moto on some point which the Attorney General for Pakistan and other lawyers could not point out earlier. The Chief Justice said that they have stopped taking suo moto. Kh Saad said that the Court had been taking suo moto and as a result of suo moto, the Court asked for holding elec­tions in the Punjab. The judge said that the government has not taken the matter seriously adding that now examine this aspect, which was highlighted in Justice Athar Minallah’s order to revive the provincial assem­blies of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Farooq H Naek said that the court had not lis­tened to the government.