ISLAMABAD: A three-person bench of the Supreme Court is listening to the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) petition to review the top court’s April 4 order to hold elections in Punjab on May 14.
Even though the highest court told everyone over and over again to carry out the order, it could not be done. Instead, on May 3, the election board asked the court to look at its decision again.
The three-member bench of the apex court, which is led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and includes Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, is hearing the review petition. This is the same bench that ordered Punjab elections to held on May 14. In the review petition, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said that the Constitution does not give superior courts the power to set the date for elections.
Today’s Hearing
At the beginning of the meeting, ECP’s lawyer, Advocate Sajeel Shehryar Swati, stepped up to the podium.
He said that the responses from the federal and Punjab governments had received, but that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had not sent a written statement.
“No answer given to me ahead of time,” he said.
CJP Bandial asked, “Do you need our help to figure out what the answers say?”
Then, he told the ECP’s lawyer to first explain how new grounds could used in the revision petition. This was a question brought up at the last hearing, when the ECP’s lawyer asked why the “Pandora’s box” of questions about the SC’s powers had brought up at the hearing when it had not brought up by the ECP at the first hearing.
Advocate Swati replied, “The Supreme Court’s rules made by the Supreme Court itself in accordance with the Constitution, and the Supreme Court cannot use powers outside of its criminal and civil jurisdiction.”
He also said that Article 188, which talks about the SC’s power to review its own decisions, doesn’t limit the top court’s ability to review a case. Instead, it gives it more power to do so.
The CJP replied, “The Constitution says the Supreme Court can look over its own decisions, so go ahead.”
