Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial said on Friday that the Supreme Court would not “sit idle” on its order on holding elections in Punjab on May 14 if the talks between the gov-ernment and the PTI failed.
He passed these remarks as the top court resumed hearing a petition pertaining to one-day elections following three-day negotiations between the federal coalition and the opposition to agree on a spe-cific date for nationwide polls.
After the negotiations came to an end on Tuesday, the PTI submitted a report to the court stating that no resolution was reached and requested that the court enforce its April 4 order regarding elections in Punjab.
In the last hearing on April 27, the three-member Supreme Court bench comprising CJP Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — also made it clear to the negotiating parties that its April 4 order on Punjab Assembly elections had remained unchanged.
During yesterday’s proceedings, proceedings, the chief justice said that the government and the PTI could continue the negotiations “if both the parties were interested”, but at the same time expressed displeasure over their “lack of interest” in a substantial dialogue.
He also said that the court only had to see if both sides could agree on a date for elections, adding that the SC’s responsibility was to uphold the law and Constitution.
After conducting a hearing that lasted nearly two hours, the proceeding was adjourned, with the CJP saying that an appropriate order will be issued.
