The top court issued the warning while hearing the defence ministry’s request to hold general elections across Pakistan simultaneously upon completion of the terms of the national as well as Sindh and Balochistan assemblies.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the petition.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence moved the top court seeking elections across the country on the same date and requested the court to withdraw its order directing Punjab polls on May 14.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, will take up the plea shortly.
It may be noted that it is the same bench that announced the April 4 verdict directing the government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold snap polls in Punjab next month.
The ministry's view is in line with the federal government's stance, which has persistently opposed holding separate general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
The tenure of the National Assembly and the legislature of two other provinces — Sindh and Balochistan — will end later this year and the federal government wants the polls to take place then, not in May, as directed by the Supreme Court on April 4.
In the April 4 order, the top court ruled that the ECP's decision to postpone polls of the Punjab Assembly till October 8 was “unconstitutional” and fixed May 14 as the date for polls in Punjab.
“The impugned order dated 22.03.2023 made by the Election Commission of Pakistan is declared to be unconstitutional, without lawful authority or jurisdiction, void ab-initio, of no legal effect and is hereby quashed,” the ruling said. “Neither the Constitution nor the law empowers the Commission to extend the date of elections beyond the 90 days period as provided in Article 224(2) of the Constitution.”
But despite the court's orders, the government did not budge and got a resolution passed through parliament against the verdict, clearly stating that it would not provide funds to the ECP for polls.
Following the government's move, the apex court directed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to release a total of Rs21 billion to the election commission for holding polls, but even after the deadline passed on April 17, the central bank did not release the funds.
In a session of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on Monday, SBP Acting Governor Sima Kamil said the central bank had allocated funds — on the SC's orders — for the polls but lacked the authority to release them.
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