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SCP summons finance secretary, Governor SPB, ECP officials over non-provision of election funds

Supreme Court summons finance secretary, AGP, Governor SPB, ECP officials tomorrow over non-provision of election funds

Notice says every person who embarks upon, encourages or instigates disobedience or defiance of the Court can be held liable & accountable

CJP constitutes 8-member larger bench to hear petitions challenging recently passed Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023

Court will conduct hearing on three petitions tomorrow

ISLAMABAD ( Web News )

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday issued notices to the finance secretary, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Director General (Law) Election Commission of Pakistan over the government’s failure to disburse Rs21 billion in funds for polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The top court has instructed the officials to appear before the Court (in Chambers) tomorrow (Friday). The notice has been issued by the Registrar Supreme Court of Pakistan Ishrat Ali.

According to the notice, the failure of the Federal Government to comply with April 4 order of providing Rs21 billion to ECP for holding elections in Punjab and KP prime facie amounts to disobedience and consequence of such defiance to court are well settled and well known. Every person who embarks upon, encourages or instigates disobedience or defiance of the Court can be held liable and accountable.

In its April 4 verdict — issued by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — the SC had ordered the government to provide Rs21bn in funds to the ECP to conduct elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by April 10, and directed the ECP to provide a report to the court on whether or not the government complied with the order on April 11.

The ECP, in a report submitted on Tuesday, informed the court about the government’s reluctance to issue the amount needed for elections.

The government, meanwhile, has referred the matter to Parliament to decide.

In a notice issued by the SC registrar on Wednesday, the apex court noted that the report submitted by the ECP on Tuesday stated “no funds have at all been released and provided to it as required by the order of the court”.

“The failure of the federal government to comply with the order of the court as aforesaid is prima facie disobedience,” it observed. “The consequences that can flow from such prima facie defiance of the court are well settled and known.

“Every person who embarks upon, encourages or instigates disobedience or defiance of the court can be held liable and accountable,” the notice pointed out.

It highlighted that the “disobedience” by the federal government would put the conduct of timely elections as mandated by the Constitution in “jeopardy”.

“The question of the provision of funds for such a vital constitutional purpose is something that requires immediate attention which takes priority over proceeding against those who may have committed contempt of the court,” the SC said.

Subsequently, the court issued a notice to the SBP governor and the next senior most official of the bank and directed them to appear before the chamber of the judges on Friday, April 14, at 11am. It directed them to bring the record and details of money owned by the federal government lying with or under the control, custody or management of the central bank.

The court also issued notices to the AGP, the finance secretary and the “next most senior official” in the Finance Ministry for an in-person appearance the same day. “The said officials shall bring with them all the relevant record and shall place before the court a detailed report as to why the order of the court made in para 5 of Const. P. 5/2023 has not been complied with, as stated by the commission,” it said.

Issuing similar notices to the ECP secretary and director general law, the court directed them to prepare and submit the full record pertaining to the general elections to the Punjab and KP assemblies.

The notice said that the provision of funds for the election was more important than contempt of court proceedings, but according to the ECP report, the government did not provide the funds, which was a violation of court orders. It added that the consequences for breaching court orders were apparent in the law.

The court ordered the SBP governor to bring all details regarding the available resources and directed the finance secretary to provide all records and inquire why the orders of the SC were not followed.

Furthermore, the apex court ordered the ECP secretary to provide all records related to Punjab and KP elections.

Though the contents of the report submitted by the ECP in court on Tuesday are not known, a source privy to the information told a private TV channel that the one-page report informed the apex court about the government’s reluctance to issue the Rs21 billion needed for the purpose.

The report also stated that the caretaker government of Punjab had informed the election watchdog that due to resource constraints, the government could only sanction 75,000 security personnel against the demand for 300,000 security forces.

It may be mentioned that the SC had in its verdict ordered the Punjab caretaker cabinet and in particular, the chief secretary and the police chief, to provide a plan acceptable to the ECP for providing sufficient personnel for election duty and security purposes.

In case, the Punjab government and its officials must, in the discharge of constitutional and legal duties and responsibilities, proactively provide all aid and assistance to the commission for the holding and conduct of the general election, as per the judgment.

CJP constitutes 8-member larger bench to hear petitions challenging SCP (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial has constituted 8-member larger bench of the apex court on Wednesday to hear the petitions challenging the recently passed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill 2023 in the joint session of the parliament on Monday. The court will conduct hearing on three petitions tomorrow (Thursday) at 11:30 AM.

The other members of the bench include Justice Ijazul Ahsan,

Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Mrs. Justice Ayesha A. Malik, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed.

Petitions have been filed by Raja Amer Khan, Chaudhry Ghulam Hussain and Muhammad Shafay Munir through Khawaja Tariq A. Rahim, Imtiaz Rashid Siddiqui, Muhammad Azhar Siddique and Muhammad Hussain Choutya. Tariq Aziz and Chaudhry Akhtar Ali will appear in the court as Advocate on Record. The petitioners have made the Federation of Pakistan through the Secretary Law and

Justice Division, Ministry of Law and Justice Islamabad and others in the petitions.

It is worth mentioning here that amid strong protest from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the federal government on Monday got the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023, passed in the joint session of parliament after President Dr. Arif Alvi returned the bill seeking to curtail the chief justice’s suo motu powers last week. The joint session rejected the amendment moved by Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan.

Minister for Law and Justice Senator Chaudhry Azam Nazeer Tarar Advocate presented the SC bill in the joint sitting of the house held with National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the chair.

The president had returned the bill for reconsideration to parliament as per the provisions of the Article 75 of the Constitution, stating that the bill prima-facie travels beyond the competence of parliament and can be assailed as colourable legislation. The bill was aimed at curtailing the powers of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) — including the suo motu and the formation of benches.

During the much-anticipated sitting, the house approved an amendment to the SC bill, under which the judges committee meeting will be convened to devise rules and regulations regarding the suo motu matter. The amendment was proposed by PML-N lawmaker Shaza Fatima Khawaja.

The Bill proposes that every cause, appeal or matter before the Supreme Court shall be heard and disposed of by a bench constituted by a Committee comprising the Chief Justice of Pakistan and two senior most judges in order of seniority. It further states any matter invoking exercise of original jurisdiction under clause (3) of Article 184 of the Constitution shall be first placed before the committee for examination and if the committee is of the view that a question of public importance with reference to enforcement of any of the fundamental rights is involved then it shall constitute a bench comprising not less than three judges of the apex court , which may also include the members of the committee for adjudication of the matter.

The Bill recommends that an appeal shall lie within 30 days from the final order of a bench of the Supreme Court, who exercised jurisdiction to the larger bench of the apex court and such appeal shall for hearing be fixed within a period not exceeding fourteen days. Furthermore, it grants a party the right to appoint counsel of its choice for filing a review application. An application pleading urgency or seeking interim relief filed in a cause, appeal or matter shall be fixed for hearing within 14 days from the date of its filing.

As per the amendment, the chief justice of Pakistan or any other member of the committee can call the meeting until the rules and regulations are finalised.

Now the bill will be presented before the president once again for his assent. If the head of the state does not give his approval within 10 days, it would be deemed to have been given.

Addressing the joint session, the law minister said that voices against the chief justice’s suo motu powers were arising from within the top court.

It is pertinent to mention here that two judges of the apex court on March 27 raised questions over the powers of the CJP, saying the SC “cannot be dependent on the solitary decision of one man, the Chief Justice”.

In a 27-page detailed note for the apex court’s March 1 verdict in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa suo motu, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail pointed out that it is important “to revisit the power of ‘one-man show’ enjoyed by the office of the Chief Justice of Pakistan [Umar Ata Bandial]”.

In his 25 page-long note, Justice Athar Minallah said, “The process of constitution of benches and allocation of cases must be transparent, fair and impartial.”

The law minister read out the message of the president who returned the bill for reconsideration. He said that bill was discussed in detail in the National Assembly and it was also approved by the Senate.

The minister responded to the objections of the bill and said the “President used inappropriate words while returning this bill and used a biased approach”. He said that Dr Alvi should think “as the President rather than a political worker”.

The federal minister said it was the demand of the bar associations and councils to introduce the bill and they had supported the bill. This bill, he said, was an old demand of the bar council which said that the indiscriminate use of 184(3) should be stopped.

The passed bill – the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 – aims at giving the power of taking suo motu notice to a three-member committee comprising senior judges including Chief Justice. It also aims to have transparent proceedings in the apex court and includes the right to appeal.

Regarding the constitution of benches, the bill states that every cause, matter or appeal before the apex court would be heard and disposed of by a bench constituted by a committee comprising the CJP and the two senior-most judges. It added that the decisions of the committee would be taken by a majority.

Regarding exercising the apex court’s original jurisdiction, the bill said that any matter invoking the use of Article 184(3) would first be placed before the committee.

The bill says that if the committee is of the view that a question of public importance with reference to the enforcement of any of the fundamental rights conferred by Chapter I of Part II of the Constitution is involved, it shall constitute a bench comprising not less than three judges of the SC of Pakistan which may also include the members of the committee, for adjudication of the matter.

On matters where the interpretation of the Constitution is required, the bill said the committee would compose a bench comprising no less than five apex court judges for the task.

About appeals for any verdict by an apex court bench that exercised Article 184(3)‘s jurisdiction, the bill said that the appeal will lie within 30 days of the bench’s order to a larger SC bench. It added that the appeal would be fixed for hearing within a period not exceeding 14 days.

It added that this right of appeal would also extend retrospectively to those aggrieved persons against whom an order was made under Article 184(3) prior to the commencement of the SC (Practice and Procedure), Bill 2023, on the condition that the appeal was filed within 30 days of the act’s commencement.

The bill additionally said that a party would have the right to appoint its counsel of choice for filing a review application under Article 188 of the Constitution.

Furthermore, it states that an application pleading urgency or seeking interim relief, filed in a cause, appeal or matter, shall be fixed for hearing within 14 days from the date of its filing.

The bill said that its provisions would have effect notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, rules, or regulations for the time being in force or judgment of any court, including the Supreme Court and high courts.

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