PM Shehbaz Sharif holds meeting with legal experts

LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday held meetings with PML-N leaders and legal experts at his Lahore’s Model Town residence, ARY News reported.

Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, SAPM Malik Ahmad Awan and AGP Mansoor Awan met with PM Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore, say sources.

According to sources, the meeting discussed the prevailing political situation in the country and legal issues regarding Supreme Court hearing on polls delay.

Constitutional crisis deepens

The constitutional crisis in Pakistan deepened as the ruling coalition in the Centre, led by PML-N, hinted that it would not accept the decision of the three-member SC bench hearing the polls delay case.

Yesterday, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah asserted that the government was considering filing a reference against three judges of Supreme Court (SC), including the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, who are hearing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) petition against delay in elections of Punjab Assembly.

Speaking to an international media outlet, the interior minister had said that the matter of the filing of a reference against three judges – CJP Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar – “is under discussion but there has been no decision on it yet”.

He noted that the three judges rejected the request for a full court bench and “refused to accept the stance of their fellow judges”.

The Supreme Court, in an appeal filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf challenging the postponement of elections till October 8 by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), constituted a five-member bench and after the recusal of the two judges was left with three judges who would continue to hold proceedings on Monday.