The power tussle between the Pakistan judiciary and chief justice Umar Ata Bandial and the Shehbaz Sharif-led government has intensified further (Image: Reuters/Pakistan Daily)
The Pakistan government presented the demand to provide funds for the ECP to conduct polls but it was rejected by a majority of MNAs.
The Pakistan National Assembly rejected the supplementary demand to provide PKR21 billion to the federal government to meet the expenses for the elections in Punjab province on Monday, thereby defying the top court’s directions.
It should be noted that the Pakistan Supreme Court directed the federal government to release funds and ensure security for elections in Punjab province. The federal government was told to release funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold general elections in Punjab during the current fiscal year.
The National Assembly rejected the supplementary demand with a majority vote after Pakistan law minister Azam Tarar moved a summary to grant the required funds.
Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf put the motion before the house for a voice vote after which it was rejected by the members of the national assembly.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday demanded the Supreme Court initiate contempt proceedings against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for not releasing funds to the ECP for the polls. The party vice president said the State Bank of Pakistan’s decision to not release funds was in violation of the laws.
Chaudhry said the court should initiate proceedings and disquality the prime minister and his cabinet for contempt of court. The former information minister said despite his party agreeing to hold dialogues over the political situation in the country, the ruling party appeared “non-serious”.
People familiar with the developments said the Pakistan apex court is likely to summon the officials and initiate contempt proceedings anytime.
Chaos over Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023
The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) said it will observe Tuesday as black day to express their protest against the order passed by the Supreme Court suspending the operation of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023.
The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 passed by the Pakistan parliament proposes to limit the Pakistan chief justice’s powers and proposes to limit the chief justice’s powers to form benches as well as fix and transfer cases.
The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 seeks to transfer these powers to a three-member committee, which will also comprise the Pakistan chief justice and two senior-most judges of the top court. The committee will also decide whether or not to take up a matter on suo motu, a power that is solely bestowed on the chief justice.
The bar appealed to the Supreme Court to show restraint from exacerbating the political crisis and allow “political forces to resolve the political issues”.
(PKR – Pakistani Rupee)
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