Supreme Court orders State Bank to release funds for Punjab polls

Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan on Friday submitted government’s reply to the Supreme Court during the SC hearing on non-provision of funds for elections in Punjab.

AGP Awan said that the government complied with the April 4 order of the Supreme Court. He said that the government presented a bill in the parliament for the provision of funds from the Federal Consolidated Funds, but the parliament rejected the bill.

He continued that after the rejection of the bill by the parliament, the federal government could not ask the State Bank to release the funds.

After the federal government reply, the Supreme Court directly ordered the State Bank of Pakistan to release funds for the polls in Punjab.

The in-chamber hearing against the non-provision of funds for the Punjab elections in the Supreme Court has ended and the decision will be pronounced after Jumma prayers.

A three-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, conducted the hearing. Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar were part of the bench.

The attorney general, election commission secretary, finance ministry, and State Bank officials appeared in the chamber and presented their arguments regarding non-provision of the funds.

The judges expressed their displeasure over non-provision of funds. They made it clear that the court order will have to be implemented.

“Non-provision of funds for elections in Punjab is a violation of the court orders. Consequences of violating the court order are clear in the law,” a Supreme Court notice said earlier.

It is to be noted here that the Supreme Court had ordered the government to provide Rs21 billion to the ECP by April 10 for elections in Punjab.

Meanwhile, the prime minister summoned the attorney general once again for consultation before the hearing in the apex court.

The attorney general left the Supreme Court for the Prime Minister’s Office.

“The Parliament has stopped the government from releasing funds. The federal government has no power to release funds for the election,” he said during an informal talk with media.

The attorney general will present the government’s position during the in-chamber hearing.