Justice Jamal Mandokhel has said, “Four judges rejected PTI’s applications. According to us, the decision is of four judges.”
At the outset of the hearing of the elections case in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Jamal Mandokhel said, “I want to clarify, the decision was four/three.”
He asked, “The Chief Justice has not issued an order of the court till date. When there was no order of court, how did the President give the date and how did the Election Commission give the schedule?”
Justice Mandokhel said, “From which day does the power to hold elections begin?”
Justice Muneeb Akhtar asked, “Why did the Election Commission not approach the court before taking a decision? The Election Commission could have approached the court before cancelling the schedule. On which the counsel for the Election Commission said, “The Election Commission has complied with the court order.
Justice Jamal Mandokhel asked, “Where is the court order signed by all the judges? I have been asking since morning that no one is bringing out the court order.” He said, “It is written in the short order that dissent notes have been written. It is clearly written in the dissent note that Justice Yahya Afridi and Athar Minallah agree with the decision. Were the judgments of Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Athar Minallah dissolved in the air? He questioned.
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said, “Let the matter of our chambers remain there. The Attorney General will give his arguments on this point.”
Justice Jamal Mandokhel asked, “What is the stand of the Election Commission after the detailed verdict?”
The lawyer of the Election Commission said that instructions should not be taken from the Election Commission on the decision of four-three. He further said that on March 3, the court’s decision was received, the Election Commission started implementing the decision with its own understanding. The schedule was released by the President when the date was received.
