ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Friday said that the dissolution of the Supreme Court bench is not less than a national tragedy.
“The Supreme Court bench started the hearing on Punjab and KP election delay case with nine members but it has now left with four members”, the interior minister pointed out, adding that behaviour of senior judiciary is disappointing as justice Jamal Mandokhail revealed that he was not consulted before the final decision.
Rana Sanaullah maintained that the bench headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa has announced a detailed verdict on the sou motu. He added that he has never seen the Supreme Court verdict disaffected through a circular.
He lambasted PTI chief Imran Khan who started in 2014 and landed the country in an economic crisis in 2023. If the reference was not filed against Justice Qazi Faez Isa then the situation would have been different now.
The interior minister further said that the provincial assemblies also raised because the PTI chairman Imran Khan dissolved the assemblies before the completion of the tenure.
He said that the election delay case should be heard by a full court because justice must be seen to be done.
Earlier today, a three-member new Supreme Court (SC) bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial rejected the government’s request to form a full court on the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa election delay case.
The petition
PTI had challenged the election commission’s decision to change the date of an election in Punjab and KP. Punjab and KPK assemblies’ speakers Sibtain Khan and Mushtaq Ghani have filed a joint constitutional petition on behalf of the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf
The federation, Punjab and KPK were made parties along with the ministry of parliamentary affairs, ministry of law and the cabinet in the PTI petition
In the petition, PTI sought directions for the federal government to ensure law and order, provisions of funds and security personnel as per the ECP’s need to hold the elections.
It also requested the court to direct the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor to announce the date for elections to the provincial assembly.
