The coalition government’s allies have voiced their mistrust of the three-member Supreme Court panel hearing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) appeal against the delay of polls in Punjab.
The statement was released on Saturday following a consultative gathering of the alliance parties, taken over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to review the current state of affairs in light of the country’s escalating judicial crisis.
The joint statement released by the governing parties said, “We have no confidence in the three-member bench.”
“A Supreme Court bench dismissed the suo moto hearing of the case on Punjab elections postponement by a majority of four judges against three”, the statement made reference to a notation by opposing judges.
It further stated that SC Judge Qazi Faez Isa also ordered that suo moto cases brought under Article 184 (3) be put on hold while the Supreme Court’s regulations regulating the Chief Justice’s discretionary powers are changed. It said that everyone was required to follow the judgment rendered by the Justice Qazi Faez Isa-led panel.
The governing coalition also voiced disapproval of SC Judge Ijazul Ahsan’s reappointment to the court hearing the elections postponement case, claiming it was “unfair” to do so. “This method clearly violates the Supreme Court’s rules of procedure and case law. The Supreme Court itself is divided, yet politicians are requested to remain together,” the governing alliance noted.
The three judges on the three-member panel must recuse themselves from hearing the case due to the current conditions, the statement demanded.
The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023, a piece of recent judicial reform legislation intended to limit the Supreme Court’s suo moto authority in a personal role, was also supported at the coalition partners’ gathering.
The combined statement also urged CJ Bandial to dispel the notion that the PTI was receiving “special treatment” from the Supreme Court.
The PML-N Supremo Nawaz Sharif participated in the meeting via video connection as well.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) Chief organizer Maryam Nawaz, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui participated in the meeting along with their delegations through video-link.
In order to support the prime minister, PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan, Attaullah Tarar, Malik Ahmed Khan, and Federal Minister of Law Senator Azam Nazir Tarar also attended the conference.
