ISLAMABAD: The Registrar’s Office Supreme Court has written a letter to the National Assembly Speaker, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, to provide the record of the House sessions dated April 6, 10, 17, 26, and 27, sources said.
The sources further said that the registrar’s office has sought the record of the five sessions of the National Assembly in writing. It also sought the record of the meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance.
Speaker Ashraf on April 26 wrote a letter to Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial stating; “The SC must, as far as possible, avoid getting involved in [the] political thicket. It is best to leave resolution of political matters by the parliament and the political parties.”
SC decisions: Speaker NA conveys MNAs’ concerns to CJP
Ashraf on behalf of the National Assembly urged the chief justice and the judges of the Supreme Court, individually and collectively, to exercise restraint and respect the legislative domain of the Parliament.
The NA speaker further wrote that the bench had ignored the fact that the NA had passed a resolution against the SC’s decision to quash the ECP’s decision to delay polls in Punjab till October and had rejected the Charged Sums for General Elections (Provincial Assemblies of the Punjab and KP) Bill, while the NA standing committee had directed the Finance Division to seek the assembly’s prior approval.
He added that the bench “appeared to be in a hurry” and had, therefore, given “unusual directions” to the government to authorise the expenditure of Rs21bn from the Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) “and then present it as fait accompli to the NA”.
A three-judge bench on April 4 passed an order, which stated that the federal government shall forthwith and in any case by 10.04.2023 release and provide to the Commission funds i.e. Rs21 billion for the general elections to the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.
When the government did not release Rs21 billion, the bench on 14 and 19 had directed the State Bank of Pakistan and the Finance Division to allocate/ release Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan for holding elections in the Punjab.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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