Decision reserved on establishment of election tribunals in Punjab

Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan Tuesday reserved the decision of the case related to the formation of election tribunals in Punjab.

A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa heard the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) appeal regarding the formation of election tribunals in Punjab, during which lawyer Salman Akram Raja, Hamid Khan and the ECP’s lawyer appeared in the court.

At the beginning of the hearing, Hamid Khan, the lawyer of the respondent Salman Akram, objected to CJP Qazi Faez Isa, ‘We have an objection to you hearing our case,’ to which the Chief Justice said that if you want to separate yourself, then do it. There is no problem.

During the hearing, Justice Aqeel Abbasi remarked that according to the written reply of the ECP, the problem was resolved by consulting the High Court. On which the ECP lawyer replied that yes, the Chief Justice of Lahore High Court (LHC) has established four tribunals and after changing the law, the ECP will appoint the remaining four.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa stated that the matters that are not for the court should be resolved among themselves. ‘I am tired of requesting to see what the constitution says. There is a book of the constitution but no one cares to read it’.

Justice Jamal Mandukhel remarked that the Election Commission has the authority, but the appointment of judges for the tribunal is done in consultation with the High Courts.

The Chief Justice added that the number of tribunals depends on the cases. Decide on the number of judges looking at the cases. If the number of judges is reduced looking at the cases, it will be unfair. I don't know how many cases are pending in Balochistan or Punjab.

Later, the court reserved the judgment of the case related to the establishment of the Election Tribunal in Punjab, which will be announced later.