Islamabad: All eyes are fixed on the Supreme Court as it is set to resume hearing today (Thursday) on the case related to the delay in holding the polls for the provincial assembly of Punjab.
It is important to note that the hearing will resume today after the political parties failed to initiate negotiations on the matter of deciding a date for the Punjab polls.
In its last hearing, the apex court had instructed political parties to conduct meetings on April 26 and to produce a response by April 27 after allowing interested parties time to come to a consensus. Since the decree was binding on all authorities and the election date of May 14 was still in effect, political parties had been required to make a decision promptly.
A three-member bench of the apex court — headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umer Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsen and Justice Munib Akhtar, as its other members, will hear the matter in the open court at 11:30 am.
On Wednesday, Speaker of the National Assembly, Raja Parvez Ashraf, also wrote a letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, conveying “profound concerns” of the elected representatives over recent Supreme Court orders and some comments by judges, terming them an “encroachment” on parliament’s domain.
NA speaker writes to CJP Bandial against ‘encroachment’ upon parliament’s powers
In the long five-page letter, the NA speaker asked the apex court to avoid getting involved in the “political thicket” as far as possible.
He added that it was best to leave the resolution of political matters to the parliament and the political parties.
