The coalition government on Friday asked Supreme Court’s Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi to recuse themselves from a larger Supreme Court bench that is hearing suo motu proceedings regarding the delay in the announcement of a date for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The request was presented in a joint note by the PPP, PML-N and JUI-F.
A nine-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and also comprising Justice Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah, heard the case.
The suo motu notice was taken by the top judge after President Dr Arif Alvi earlier this week unilaterally announced April 9 as the election date in both provinces after his invitation for consultations on the matter was turned down by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Ahead of today’s hearing, Barrister Ali Zafar, JUI’s counsel Kamran Murtaza and PPP’s lawyer Farooq H. Naik appeared in court.
Likewise, PML-N’s lawyer Mansoor Awan, and the Punjab governor’s counsel Mustafa Ramde were also in attendance.
Attorney General Shahzad Atta Elahi and Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman as well as other legal fraternity representatives and political leaders are also attending the hearing.
