Attaullah Tarar, the special assistant to the prime minister for interior and legal affairs, stated on Tuesday that in order to strengthen the federation, general elections for the National Assembly and provincial assemblies should be held concurrently. Speaking at a press conference held here, he announced that a joint session of parliament had approved a resolution calling for general elections to be held simultaneously for all assemblies. He claimed that a separate National Assembly resolution had been passed, requesting that the Prime Minister and cabinet refrain from acting in accordance with cases involving the delay of Punjab elections.
About the statement of the PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry regarding fake signatures on this resolution, he said those all signatures are genuine as coalition partners do not believe in dishonesty. He said that PTI had remained involved in fraudster activities and Azhar Siddique, a lawyer of Imran Khan, submitted documents in Lahore High Court with fake signatures of Imran Khan.
He said that the Speaker of the National Assembly would be written for recovery from former Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry who used official flats, vehicles, and other resources for months after the ouster of his government, he maintained.
He said that general elections to the National Assembly or a Provincial Assembly should be held simultaneously after setting up caretaker governments as per the real spirit of Article 224 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Attaullah Tarar said that a joint sitting of parliament has passed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023 which aims at giving the power of taking suo motu notice to a three-member committee comprising senior judges including the Chief Justice. He said that it would ensure transparent proceedings in the apex court and includes the right to appeal.
He said that the bill states that every cause, matter, or appeal before the apex court would be heard and disposed of by a bench constituted by a committee comprising the CJP and the two senior-most judges. It added that the decisions of the committee would be taken by a majority. Regarding exercising the apex court’s original jurisdiction, the bill said that any matter invoking the use of Article 184(3) would first be placed before the above mentioned committee.
Attaullah Tarar interpreted the order of Justice Athar Minallah in election-related case which stated that the case was dismissed by 4 to 3. In this order, he said that it has been told that suo-motu notices were actually aimed at downtrodden segments and to protect their fundamental rights because such segments lack resources with them.
He quoted Article 191 of the Constitution which says that the Supreme Court may make rules regulating the practice and procedure of the Court subject to the Constitution and law. After the passage of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023, he said the president shall give his assent within ten days failing which such assent shall be deemed to have been given.
He said that a money bill – Charge Sum for General Election Provincial Assemblies of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Bill 2023 – has been introduced in the National Assembly to fund the general elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and parliament would decide about it.
He said that the constitution has been drafted by the parliament and it has defined domains of every institution. He said that the misinterpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution as well as its rewriting by the judgment of the Supreme Court was unfair.
Attaullah Tarar said that PTI Chairman Imran Khan was using tactics to delay court proceedings and hearing in Toshakhana and other cases against him but he would have to be accountable for his deeds and embezzlement.
