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SC begins hearing defence ministry’s request to hold elections across Pakistan simultaneously
Haseeb Bhatti Published April 19, 2023 Updated 16 minutes ago
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From left to right: Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Munib Akhtar. — Supreme Court website/File photos
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The Supreme Court (SC) bench on Wednesday took up the defence ministry’s request to hold general elections across Pakistan simultaneously upon completion of the terms of national as well as Sindh and Balochistan assemblies.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar is hearing the petition.
A day earlier, the defence ministry filed an application in the SC, requesting the top court to recall its April 4 order that had fixed May 14 as the election date for the Punjab Assembly.
The application asked the apex court to issue directives that general elections to the national and all provincial assemblies be held on the same date.
Along with the application, the defence ministry also issued a report in court, laid before the SC in compliance with its directives to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and other departments to furnish reports after releasing Rs21 billion to the ECP for holding elections to the Punjab and KP assemblies.
In its report, the ministry highlighted the need of holding the elections on the same day in view of the heightened security situation in the country. It also said that the armed forces would be able to carry out election duties by early October.
“Due to the prevalent security situation and counter-terrorism operations being carried out in KP and Balochistan as well as the intelligence-based operations in Punjab and Sindh, the armed forces, Rangers, Frontier Constabulary and other forces are not logistically available to be repositioned and re-posted for providing election security, twice in a span of six months,” the report said.
“Significant time is required to prepare the members of the armed forces for the election duty, given much of the force has been actively engaged in operations for a considerable period of time,” the application said, adding the security situation in Punjab and Sindh has been stable in the light of the efforts of the ongoing operations in KP and Balochistan, respectively.
Therefore, any diversion of troops from KP and Balochistan will result in directly affecting the security situation in Punjab and Sindh, the application explained.
As the hearing commenced today, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan was called to the rostrum. CJP Bandial remarked that the matter had been prolonged as the government had given its executive to the parliament.
“May God guide us to take the right decisions and include us in good people,” the top judge said and then instructed the AGP to read out the defence ministry’s report in the courtroom.
Executive-judiciary impasse on polls
Earlier this month, the SC had directed the government to provide Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by April 10, and directed the electoral body to provide a report on whether or not the government complied with the order on April 11.However, the government referred the matter to Parliament which defied the court’s orders and refused to issue the funds.
Last week, the electoral watchdog had submitted a report to the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope. Though the contents of the report are not known, a source privy to the information told Dawn that the one-page report informed the apex court about the government’s reluctance to issue the Rs21bn needed for the purpose.
Subsequently, the court had directed the SBP to release funds worth Rs21bn for elections from Account No I — a principal component of the Federal Consolidated Fund worth Rs1.39 trillion — and send an “appropriate communication” to this effect to the finance ministry by April 17.
Following the top court’s orders, the central bank on Monday allocated the funds and sought the finance ministry’s nod to release the amount.
The federal cabinet’s approval was required to release the amount from the FCF, while the government has to get the National Assembly’s approval for its release. But the same day, the coalition government managed through the NA the rejection of its own demand for the provision of Rs21bn as a supplementary grant to the ECP for holding polls in the two provinces.
On Tuesday, the ECP submitted a report in court saying that the staggering of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not feasible since it involved significant expenditures compared to holding of polls on the same day.
On the other hand, the finance ministry said that in the wake of the rejection on part of the National Assembly to a government-sponsored motion to grant Rs21bn to the federal government for meeting expenditures, other than charged, during the financial year ending June 30, 2023, in respect of the ECP for holding the elections in Punjab and KP, it was difficult to sanction the release of the funds.
More to follow
