Top court approached for overthrowing PM Shehbaz, CEC Sikandar Sultan
Pakistan
Plea states PM Shehbaz lost parliament's confidence for not not issuing poll grant
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The top court was on Wednesday approached for overthrowing Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja over failing to release grant for the Punjab election.
Zahoor Mehdi filed a plea in the court wherein he nominated PM Shehbaz, CEC Sultan, President Dr Arif Alvi, and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Molana Fazlur Rehman as respondents.
The plea stated that the PM had lost the confidence of the parliament after the NA's standing committee rejected the bill seeking the approval of supplementary grant for holding Punjab polls, and CEC Raja’s demand for funds and security was not suitable. “The PM and the CEC are united over the issue of the election,” the plea added.
The plea also requested the court to appoint a caretaker PM and a caretaker CEC, order the release of RS21 billion in funds for the election, and hold the election without the Army and Rangers.
May 14 Punjab election fiasco
On April 5, the apex court had ordered the ECP to hold elections in Punjab on May 14 and directed the federal government to release Rs21 billion in funds for holding elections until April 10, after the PTI moved the SC against delay in elections. The court subsequently ordered the ECP to present a report in this regard on April 11.
However, the federal government failed to comply with the order which resulted in the non-provision of funds to the ECP. As the ECP apprised the court of non-provision of funds, the court expressed resentment and issued notices to top government officials including Attorny General for Pakistan Mansoor Awan and State Bank of Pakistan Governor Jameel Ahmad.
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On April 10, the Centre decided to take the matter of allocation of funds to parliament, and finance minister Ishaq Dar tabled the bill seeking approval of grant for holding elections.
As the officials responded on April 14, the court ordered the SBP to release RS21 billion in funds from the Federal Consolidated Fund until April 17 and submit a report in this regard on April 18. However, the SBP also failed to meet the deadline.
But, on April 18, the issue of allocation of funds became more complicated as the NA Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue sent the summary, presented by federal law minister Azam Nazir Tarar before the NA, recommending non-provision of funds for elections to the ECP to the federal cabinet. The federal cabinet, in turn, sent it back to the parliament. It later culminated in the NA’s approval of the summary.
Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghaus-Pasha said the allocation of funds required approval from parliament. “Without the approval of parliament, no bill or budget has any legal authenticity."
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On April 18, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which authorises Pakistan Army for providing security for elections, had petitioned the apex court for holding elections in one go across the country.
The plea stated that “...the instant application may be granted, the order dated 04-04-2023 passed in C.P. No. 5/2023 may kindly be recalled with the directions that the general elections to the National and all Provincial Assemblies be held together, upon completion of the term of the National and the other two Provincial Assemblies i.e. of Sindh and Balochistan.”
However, on April 19, the Supreme Court declared the MoD's plea inadmissible and again ordered the federal government to release Rs21 billion in supplementary grant to the ECP for polls by April 27.
On the other hand, before Eidul Fitr, a three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar had given the political parties a week to develop a consensus on the date for holding national and provincial elections simultaneously. The apex court had also directed them to submit a progress report on April 27 about the meeting of political leaders scheduled to be held on April 26.
Earlier, it had seen a stalemate as JUI-F and the JWP - two parties of the 13-party ruling alliance led by the PML-N - had refused to become a part of the negotitaions with the PTI. The alliance would inform the court about the decisions made during the consultations with the parties.
Army's excuse from providing security
It merits mention that the Ministry of Defence had, earlier, apprised the ECP that the army would not be available for election duty due to the ongoing security situation in the country and on the borders.
