The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) will take up case related to elections on same day across the country on Thursday (today) at 11am. A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising of Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar will resume hearing of a petition seeking to hold simultaneous elections.
Ahead of the Supreme Court mandated deadline for political parties to reach a consensus on a new date for elections in Punjab on Wednesday, the roster for Bench 1 of the apex court was revised due to the ‘indisposition’ of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial. The CJP’s bench was delisted along with all cases before it. The SC Registrar issued a notification delisting the cases but did not specify the reasons. “It is to inform that the Court Roster regarding Bench-I for Wednesday, 26th April 2023, has been revised due to the indisposition of the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan.” Earlier, the apex court had asked all political parties to evolve a consensus on the date for holding simultaneous general elections of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies expeditiously; otherwise, the court noted, its order regarding the Punjab Assembly elections on May 14 would come into force. For SC hearings, a new bench consisting Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Aminuddin Khan was constituted to hear all the cases. The top court’s Registrar’s Office released the list of cases the new bench would hear.
