Islamabad: The two chiefs of Pakistan’s spy agencies — the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI) — Monday called on Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to brief him about the “security issues” the country was facing.
According to a report published in The Express Tribune, two other judges of the apex court were present inside the chamber of the chief justice during the meeting. The report revealed that the meeting continued for over three hours.
The report, however, said that it was unclear whether the Supreme Court expressed satisfaction with the briefing. It went on to say that the briefing will have far-reaching implications if the judges get convinced that the security situation in the country does not allow the deployment of troops to ensure security during the poll in Punjab.
It is pertinent to mention that three judges of the apex court, including Chief Justice Bandial, have directed the federal government to allocate funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for holding polls for the Punjab Assembly on May 14.
A three-judge bench — led by the chief justice and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan — on April 4 declared as “unconstitutional” the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to postpone the election for the Punjab Assembly till October.
When the electoral watchdog didn’t receive the required funds on the given date, the SC summoned top authorities, including the governor of the State Bank, to release funds.
On Friday last week, the apex court ordered the SBP to release by Monday Rs21 billion from Account No. I — a principal component of the Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) worth Rs1.39 trillion — for the elections.
On Monday, however, National Assembly approved a summary, sent by the NA Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, recommending the non-provision of funds for elections to the ECP.
