CM election case: Govt files plea in SC to form full court bench

Islamabad: The federal government on Monday morning filed a request in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, asking for a full court bench to hear the lingering matter of the Chief Minister Punjab's selection.

According to details, the petition was filed on the behalf of CM Punjab Hamza Shahbaz, requesting the court to hear the pleas of the defiant members against the decision of the Election Commission along with the ruling case.

The coalition parties Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) also filed pleas in the court to be made a party to the case.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had filed a petition late last week challenging a ruling of Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dos Muhammad Mazari in which he had rejected votes cast by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) in the Punjab Chief Minister run-off elections.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court had heard the petition and issued an interim order, relegating Hamza Shahbaz to the stature of “Trustee Chief Minister” while it decided to conduct further proceedings today.

With all coalition parties demanding that a full court bench hear the case of interpreting Article 63-A, the government and ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) filed a formal request in the apex court today.