PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif on Friday cast doubt on the verdict — which is yet to come — by the three-member Supreme Court bench hearing the petition against the postponement of polls in Punjab.
A diminished Supreme Court bench — comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — is currently hearing the PTI’s petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to postpone elections to the Punjab Assembly till Oct 8.
In a press talk from London, Nawaz was asked whether the three-member bench’s decision would be acceptable. “It is a straightforward thing. When the bench itself is not acceptable, then how can its decision be acceptable?” the ex-premier asked.
“What is the wisdom behind it? […] the whole nation needs to understand this.”
Nawaz noted that a bill aimed at curtailing the chief justice’s suo motu powers had also been passed by parliament and was now with the president. He said that the attorney general and a “majority of judges” in the country had also expressed their opinions in this regard.
“When there is a united voice, then why this stubbornness that only these three judges will be on the bench? This is a national issue, not a minor one.”
He said there were many capable judges in the top court “yet in every case these three come to the fore and make decisions regarding Pakistan’s future”.
