CJP-led 3-member bench resumes hearing on simultaneous elections

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday resumed hearing of the case related to simultaneous elections across the country with the attorney general informing the court about the status of dialogue between the government and the PTI.

The bench is headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial. Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar are the other members of the bench.

It is to be noted here that the court had ordered the political parties to hold consultations for consensus on same-day elections.

The court had also ordered the government to release Rs21 billion by April 27 for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

According to the order of April 19, the attorney general will inform the court today about the political negotiations.

The CJP will not hear the cases of routine, for the case related to simultaneous elections in the country has been fixed for hearing today.

The CJP will hear the case at 11:30 PM, and all other cases for April 27 have been delisted.

In this regard, the Supreme Court has also released the revised judges’ roster.

Before Eid holidays, the CJP had declared that the Supreme Court would not alter the May 14 election date, urging all the political parties to hold consultations on same-day elections and inform the court about it.

The had court directed the ruling coalition and the PTI to sit together and develop a consensus on elections by 4pm that day, but at the same time asserted that it would not go back on its order fixing May 14 as the date for elections to the Punjab Assembly.

“It has no objection to the negotiation process and holding elections on the same day across the country is a legal and constitutional question,” stated the written order.