NA Speaker urges higher judiciary to avoid getting ‘involved in political thicket’

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly (NA) Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Wednesday penned down a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, conveying ‘concerns of elected representatives about Supreme Court’s (SC) recent orders’ on elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as well as the release of funds, ARY News reported.

In the letter penned down to CJP Umar Ata Bandial, the NA speaker expressed ‘serious concerns and unease of election representatives regarding some recent decisions of Supreme Court and comments made by some Judges, as reported in media’.

“The National Assembly strongly feels that these recent decisions amount to encroachment upon two core constitutional functions of the National Assembly i.e. law making and power of the purse,” the letter stated.

He drew the chief justice’s attention to Article 73 of the Constitution, which vests powers related to Money Bill exclusively in the National Assembly. “Articles 79 to 85 confer power and authority to approve expenditure from the Federal Consolidated Fund on the elected members of the National Assembly,” it added.

“Keeping in view these unambiguous constitutional provisions and division of powers and functions, I write to convey the profound concern of the National Assembly with the orders passed by a 3-member Bench of the Supreme Court, directing the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Finance Division to release Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP),” it noted.

NA Speaker, in the letter, stated that these orders were passed notwithstanding that such release has expressly been forbidden by the National Assembly.

Raja Ashraf said: “The SC must, as far as possible, avoid getting involved in political thicket. It is best to leave resolution of political matters by the parliament and the political parties.”

“I, on behalf of the NA of Pakistan, urge the honourable chief justice and judges of the supreme court to exercise restraint, and respect the legislative domain on parliament.”

“We must work together to uphold the Constitution, protect the democratic values and work within our respective constitutional domains to ensure that confrontation between the organs of the state is avoided and the constitutional order is maintained,” he concluded.

NA speaker had written to CJP Bandial after taking “sense of the House” and on the call of several lawmakers. The decision also followed the federal cabinet’s decision to again refer to parliament the finance ministry’s summary for the release of funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for polls in Punjab and KP.

Earlier in the day, the federal cabinet had approved that the matter for the release of Rs21 billion, initially ordered by the Supreme Court in an April 4 order, be taken to parliament for a second time.

It is pertinent to mention here the Supreme Court (SC) declared the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) March 22 order on Punjab elections null and void.

A three-member bench — comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — announced the reserved verdict on the PTI’s petition challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s order postponing the elections in Punjab and KP.

The Supreme Court 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.

The top court directed to conduct Punjab polls on May 14. The SC further directed the caretaker government in Punjab to assist the commission. “The court will issue an appropriate order in case of non-provision of funds,” the verdict read.