A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Atta Bandial, annulled the Election Commission's decision to hold elections on October 8 and ordered that elections be held on May 14 in Punjab.
The Supreme Court declared the Election Commission's March 22 order to hold elections on October 8 as 'unconstitutional' and said that the Election Commission had 'exceeded its jurisdiction'.
The Supreme Court declared that the election schedule canceled by the Election Commission of Punjab will be implemented, while a decision will be taken at an appropriate forum after seeing the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Supreme Court has also made the details of the Punjab election schedule a part of its decision after a few amendments.
In this context, the Supreme Court has ordered the federal government to release 21 billion rupees required for the elections by April 10, while the Election Commission has been ordered to submit a report on the status of funds to the Supreme Court on April 11. Similarly, the federal and caretaker governments of Punjab have also given a timeline to take steps in this regard.
This decision of the Supreme Court was welcomed by the leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, but the Federal Law Minister criticized this decision.
Leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf Fawad Chaudhry says that the decision of the Supreme Court is a decision to protect the rights of every Pakistani citizen. "Congratulations to the nation on the victory of the Constitution." Faisal Chaudhry, a lawyer associated with Tehreek-e-Insaf, has termed it as a "decision for the future of Pakistan" and said that "the people of Pakistan will also protect this decision." They are standing with their judiciary against any unconstitutional measures.
He also thanked the Supreme Court for 'burying the theory of necessity'.
While Tehreek-e-Insaf is expressing happiness over the decision of the Supreme Court, the leaders of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz are expressing disappointment over this decision.
Prime Minister Nazir Tarar says that he was saddened by the decision of the three-member bench of the Supreme Court. He expressed the apprehension that the ongoing political and constitutional crisis in Pakistan will become more serious after this decision.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he said that the way the Supreme Court is being run, the way the benches are being formed, senior judges are being kept away from the benches. We are afraid that the situation may turn into a serious constitutional and political crisis, the country cannot afford it. We request the Chief Justice to sit a 13-member bench and settle all these matters.
Khawaja Saad Rafiq also expressed similar views. He says that the decision of the three-member bench seems to deepen the constitutional and political crisis. He tweeted that 'Senior judges of the Supreme Court were not listened to and neither were the orders. The request of the political parties to be heard was rejected and the plea of the full court was also rejected. He says that the internal division of the Supreme Court is a very sad matter.
Muslim League-N leader Mohsin Ranjha while reacting to the decision of the Supreme Court said that Pakistan will be run by its elected representatives and the elected representatives of Pakistan are saying that a full court should be made, then a full court would have been made and Then all the parties would be satisfied with whatever decision was made.'
He further said that releasing the election schedule is the legal authority of the Election Commissioner, but the surprising thing for us is that this schedule was also released by the Supreme Court.
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