{"id":16405,"date":"2023-05-24T17:01:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-24T12:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=16405"},"modified":"2023-05-24T17:01:31","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T12:01:31","slug":"we-are-sitting-here-with-a-clean-heart-cjp-tells-agp-awan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/pakistan\/we-are-sitting-here-with-a-clean-heart-cjp-tells-agp-awan\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We are sitting here with a clean heart,’ CJP tells AGP Awan"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘We are sitting here with a clean heart,’ CJP tells AGP Awan. Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked on Tuesday that the apex court had a “clean heart” and would not use the past against the government.<\/p>\n

The CJP’s remarks came as the Supreme Court resumed the hearing of the review petition filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) challenging its order directing polls in Punjab on May 14.<\/p>\n

The plea was heard by the same bench that issued the initial order on April 4, comprising CJP Bandial, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan.<\/p>\n

Today’s hearing<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the outset of the hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan came to the rostrum and began to present his arguments. He said that some of the court\u2019s remarks day earlier left a \u201cwrong impression\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was asked in the court yesterday why the Election Commission did not raise the points earlier,\u201d he said, adding that the bench had also remarked that the federal government had previously been arguing that the decision to hold elections was a \u201cminority verdict\u201d.<\/p>\n

In response to these issues, the attorney general said: \u201cThe point that the election of the National Assembly will be affected if there are elections in a province was raised earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0Holding election within 90 days not a choice but constitutional duty, says CJP Bandial<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

He added that the point that the federal government considered the 4\/3 verdict to be a minority verdict was also raised beforehand.<\/p>\n

Hearing these remarks, CJP Bandial said: \u201cWe were happy yesterday that legal points were presented before the court, yesterday. You do not need to panic.\u201d<\/p>\n

He assured the attorney general that the apex court would consider any reasonable point raised before taking a decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cLegal points were raised earlier in the court but not discussed,\u201d he said, adding that there was a discussion on the jurisdiction of review in the court yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe past will not be used against the government,\u201d he said, stressing the court\u2019s impartiality.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou tell your colleagues not to speak so harshly at our door [\u2026] the largest House. We work for Allah, that’s why we are sitting quietly,\u201d the CJP remarked.<\/p>\n

He then told the AGP to tell \u201cwhoever\u201d had asked him to give a clarification, that the court is sitting with a \u201cclean heart\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe statements given in other contexts were reported in a way that they gave the wrong impression,\u201d he said, regretting that the court\u2019s remarks were reported incorrectly.<\/p>\n

CJP Bandial remarked that it was reported that the court had given Imran Khan a Mercedes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr, I don\u2019t even use a Mercedes,\u201d he said, adding that the PRO also told that the police arranged a bulletproof Mercedes for Khan but the matter was twisted into something else.<\/p>\n

Scope of review petition<\/strong><\/p>\n

ECP\u2019s counsel Swati, during the proceedings, then presented more arguments in favour of the body\u2019s stance that the scope of the review petition is expanded.<\/p>\n

He contended that the court always interprets the Constitution as a living document.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ultimate institution of justice is the Supreme Court; therefore, the jurisdiction cannot be limited,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n

At this, CJP Bandial asked: \u201cHave 150 years of judicial precedents become ineffective?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to 150 years of judicial precedents, there is a difference between the scope of revision and appeal,\u201d he said, adding that the ECP counsel has not answered this question since yesterday.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Justice Akhtar remarked: \u201cIf we accept your argument regarding the scope as correct, then the Supreme Court\u2019s rules will be annulled.\u201d He added that the top court\u2019s rules had not yet been amended.<\/p>\n

He further pointed out that should the scope be expanded, many older cases will also come for review.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can Order 26 of the Supreme Court Rules, which relates to review petitions, not be fully implemented?\u201d he asked, adding that if \u201cOrder 26\u201d is not fully implemented, the period for filing revision will also expire.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan anyone file a revision after 10 years and say that the rules are not fully applicable?\u201d Justice Akhtar inquired.<\/p>\n

You probably have no idea of the consequences after your argument is accepted, he remarked.<\/p>\n

At this, the ECP lawyer said that the period for filing the revision should not expire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 70 years, you are the first person to discover this point, so tell the results,\u201d Justice Akhtar asked.<\/p>\n

At this point, Justice Ahsan reiterated that the scope of the review is mentioned in the Supreme Court Rules.<\/p>\n

The rules cannot impose restrictions on the filing of review petitions as it is mandated by the Constitution, Swati argued.<\/p>\n

Going back to the previous point of the time limitation, Justice Ahsan remarked: \u201cThe Constitution does not even give a period for filing a review. Can a review petition be filed 20 years after the judgment?\u201d<\/p>\n

He further asked: \u201cIf the rule pertaining to the time period of the review can be applied, how is the rule regarding its scope not applicable?\u201d<\/p>\n

Swati responded: \u201cThe makers of the Supreme Court Rules did not limit the jurisdiction in constitutional cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stating that he was presenting a case before the country\u2019s top three judges, the ECP lawyer said: \u201cThe law keeps changing with time.\u201d<\/p>\n

CJP Bandial then brought up the issue of the suo motu powers of the court and commented: \u201cAccording to you, the use of [Article] 184\/3 has increased a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is also possible that mistakes have been made in Article 184\/3 judgments he said, and asked: \u201cIn your view, it is not right to limit the scope of review?\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the AGP\u2019s opinion on this point would be taken.<\/p>\n

Address issue of Punjab polls: CJP<\/strong><\/p>\n

The CJP then instructed Swati to address to the real matter at hand: the Punjab polls date.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue of announcing the date of the elections had come to the court for the first time,\u201d Swati said.<\/p>\n

The CJP reminded him that the ECP itself had said that it would conduct the elections by providing security and funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow what is the legal status of all these points?\u201d he asked adding that the 9-member bench had raised important questions in its order<\/p>\n

However, at the time, the interests of political parties were connected elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Coming down hard on the government, the CJP said that at the time when the order was issued, the government had raised objections on the bench instead of raising arguments on legal points.<\/p>\n

He said that on the order of the court, a 5-member bench was formed from the original 9 members.<\/p>\n

\u201cA 7-member bench was never formed, so how did the decision of 4\/3 come about?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

If this were not a matter of public interest, this case would be decided in two minutes, CJP Bandial remarked.<\/p>\n

Swati submitted that on the order of the court, the commission had written a letter to the president.<\/p>\n

CJP asks ECP why president was not briefed properly<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, the CJP turned his guns to the electoral body and said: \u201cThe election commission did not inform the president of the situation which it is informing the court now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president was only written to give the date.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did the election commission not recommend simultaneous elections throughout the country to the president?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

The CJP also said that the president was not told about Article 218\/3, the 1970 elections, the security situation or the scarcity of funds.<\/p>\n

He slammed the ECP counsel and said that he was asking for more powers in the review, without presenting the ground reality or hard facts.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if the Constitution allows for it, keep your eyes and mind open before using it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then told Swati to continue his arguments.<\/p>\n

Citing the case of the hunting of the Houbara Bustard, Swati said that the court had reviewed its decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, the review petitions against the court\u2019s decision to reinstate 16,000 employees who had been sacked was struck down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In this case, the court used its power to grant fundamental rights and complete justice, he argued, adding that the court had overturned its own decision in the judges\u2019 case.<\/p>\n

Following this, the hearing was adjourned till May 25 (Wednesday) at 12:00pm.<\/p>\n

ECP’s petition<\/strong><\/p>\n

The electoral watchdog filed a review petition in the apex court against its order passed on April 4, setting May 14 as the date for holding elections in the province of Punjab.<\/p>\n

It had submitted that, under the Constitution, the power of the announcement of the date for the general elections is vested in bodies other than any judicial institution; therefore, the impugned order under review had “breached the salient principle of the trichotomy of powers and thus is not sustainable”.<\/p>\n

Elections \u2014 principally a domain of the election commission under Article 218(3) of the Constitution read with other provisions of the Constitution \u2014 is the sole responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan, the ECP had contended.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the ECP had submitted that in the presence of an elected government in Punjab, the general elections to the National Assembly cannot be conducted fairly.<\/p>\n

\u201cFair elections cannot take place in the presence of an elected government in Punjab\u201d, the review petition had stated adding that the voter\/electorate is likely to vote in favour of the candidates of the political party which has the elected government in Punjab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘We are sitting here with a clean heart,’ CJP tells AGP Awan. Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked on Tuesday that the apex court had a “clean heart” and would not use the past against the government. The CJP’s remarks came as the Supreme Court resumed the hearing of the review petition filed by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":16406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,2],"tags":[3040,4542,2730,491,3989,138],"class_list":["post-16405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-pakistan","tag-agp","tag-attorney-general-for-pakistan","tag-cjp","tag-election-commission-of-pakistan","tag-justice-umar-ata-bandial","tag-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}