Delay in polls: Govt to amend contempt of court law to avoid legal trouble

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has geared up to bring amendments in contempt of court law in a bid to rescue itself from Supreme Court’s (SC) orders, directing it to provide Rs21 billion in funds to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), ARY News reported on Sunday, citing sources.

Sources told ARY News that the government has planned to bring amendments to Article 204 of the Constitution – which empowers court to “punish any person who abuses, interferes with or obstructs the process of the Court in any way or disobeys any order”.

Sources claimed that the government decided to bring amendments in contempt of court law to avoid ‘any legal trouble’ after Supreme Court (SC) directed it to provide Rs21 billion in funds by April 10 to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for Punjab elections.

The Contempt of Court Bill will be approved by the Parliament, sources while quoting officials of law ministry said, adding that the provision of contempt law can be removed from Constitution by a two-thirds majority.

Earlier in the day, it was reported that the federal cabinet failed to make a decision for issuing funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the Punjab elections.

Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif chaired an important session of the federal cabinet today. The cabinet members decided to expand the scope of consultations for issuing funds to the ECP for the Punjab elections.

The cabinet members decided to take the matter to the Parliament, sources told ARY News.

“The cabinet members said that there are two different rulings of the Supreme Court (SC) which increased confusion for the federal government. Some members suggested to partially releasing funds to the election commission to avoid facing contempt of court charges,” sources added.

The cabinet decided to take opinion from the Parliament as it is the superior institution besides exhibiting reservations on the SC’s three-member bench’s verdict. The members also agreed on maintaining the supremacy of the Parliament.

It is pertinent to mention here that a three-member bench — comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar declared the ECP’s order postponing the provincial assembly elections until October 8 as “unconstitutional” and ordered the government to release Rs21 billion funds for elections in Punjab by April 10.

Punjab election schedule

Earlier, the Election Commission of Pakistan announced the schedule for elections in Punjab — which are to be held on May 14.

According to the electoral watchdog (ECP) notification, the polling for the Punjab Assembly elections will be held on May 14, 2023. The ECP also withdrew its earlier schedule regarding the holding of general elections in Punjab in October.

As per the schedule, appeals can be filed against the decisions of Returning Officers regarding rejection or accepting nomination papers on April 10.