As was widely expected, the three-member Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, annulled the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan to delay polls for the Punjab Assembly to 08 October and ordered polls be held on 14 May instead. The court unanimously held that neither the Constitution nor the law empowers the Commission to extend the date of elections beyond 90 days as provided in Article 224(2) of the Constitution and issued its own election schedule. One of the judges of the bench has been assigned the responsibility of monitoring the entire electoral process and the ECP will report progress and problems, if any, to the judge in the chamber for appropriate orders.
Of course, there is no ambiguity in the Constitution that elections for a legislature must be held within 90 days of its dissolution and therefore, constitutional and legal experts firmly believe the apex court was not expected to pronounce a verdict in contradiction of the Constitution. However, they also regret that a right thing has been done in a wrong manner and instead of resolving the ongoing political and judicial crises, the judgement might deepen them further as both sides are apparently on a path of confrontation which doesn’t augur well for the much-needed political and economic stability. Strongly reacting to the verdict, the Federal Cabinet described the order as neither acceptable nor practical with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif equating it with ‘judicial murder’ of ZA Bhutto. PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif called for parliament to assert itself by filing a reference of misconduct against Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar whose verdict “virtually incapacitated” parliament and made it “redundant”. PMLN Vice President Maryam Nawaz called for bringing to book those who were trying to impose Imran Khan in defiance of the Constitution and law. Parties forming coalition at the Centre have also put their weight behind the Government with PPP leader and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari vowing judicial dictatorship was not acceptable and that the judiciary should not repeat mistakes of the past. JUI(F) has also warned that the verdict would complicate the constitutional and judicial crises. The Government complains the verdict is yet another attempt to rewrite the Constitution and interfere in the domain of Parliament, Executive and the constitutional body of the Election Commission. In this backdrop, nothing can be said with certainty whether or not elections in Punjab would be held as directed by the three-member bench which has become controversial because of various factors and reasons. There were consistent demands from all the parties forming the coalition government for the formation of full court to hear the case but their plea was not acceded to without any tangible reason. No doubt, the existing law empowers the CJP to form benches but strong exceptions have been made about a particular pattern of benches both from within the apex court and outside. Affected political parties wonder why the plea for full court was dustbined when even PTI Chairman Imran Khan declared he has no problem with the full court. Similarly, both Attorney-General Mansoor Awan and ECP counsel Irfan Qadir raised a number of pertinent questions before the bench but these points have not been addressed in the initial order of the court. Apart from questions about the contours of the SC’s original jurisdiction, the judgement also raises questions about the rationale of exclusion of those judges from adjudication of this case whose point of view was different from the Chief Justice. As things stand today, both the Supreme Court and the Government are determined to assert their authority and the ensuing tension and turmoil could push the country to any direction. The court has devised a mechanism to force the ECP and the Government to implement its decision and it is to be seen what course of action the executive authorities adopt in coming days. It would be appropriate to hold in-depth discussions on the emerging situation in Parliament and a strategy adopted to avoid confrontation. The latest statement of Imran Khan that he was ready to wait for October if the Government has a roadmap offers a window of opportunity which ‘Mediators’ should seize to seek a politically negotiated solution to the crisis.
