Islamabad: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court (SC) warned the government with “serious consequences” if it didn’t provide the money needed to hold elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
When discussing the defence ministry’s request to hold nationwide elections simultaneously after the terms of the national assembly and the assemblies for Sindh and Balochistan came to an end, Pakistan’s top court issued the warning. The petition was heard by a three-judge panel made up of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar. A day earlier, the defence ministry submitted a petition to the Supreme Court asking the court to vacate its April 4 decision setting the Punjab Assembly election for May 14.
The application asked the apex court to issue directives that general elections to the national and all provincial assemblies be held on the same date.
Along with the application, the defence ministry also issued a report in court, laid before the SC in compliance with its directives to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and other departments to furnish reports after releasing Rs21 billion to the ECP for holding elections to the Punjab and KP assemblies.
In its report, the ministry highlighted the need of holding the elections on the same day in view of the heightened security situation in the country. It also said that the armed forces would be able to carry out election duties by early October.
“Due to the prevalent security situation and counter-terrorism operations being carried out in KP and Balochistan as well as the intelligence-based operations in Punjab and Sindh, the armed forces, Rangers, Frontier Constabulary and other forces are not logistically available to be repositioned and re-posted for providing election security, twice in a span of six months,” the report said.
“Significant time is required to prepare the members of the armed forces for the election duty, given much of the force has been actively engaged in operations for a considerable period of time,” the application said, adding the security situation in Punjab and Sindh has been stable in the light of the efforts of the ongoing operations in KP and Balochistan, respectively.
Therefore, any diversion of troops from KP and Balochistan will result in directly affecting the security situation in Punjab and Sindh, the application explained.
At the outset of today’s hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) was called to the rostrum and asked to read the finance ministry’s report out loud in the courtroom.
CJP Bandial remarked that the government had said that the funds required for conducting polls would be issued via a supplementary grant. “On the contrary, the matter was sent to parliament,” he remarked.
The AGP told the court that the NA Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue had referred the matter to the cabinet and parliament.
At this, Justice Akhtar remarked that a majority of the committee’s members were part of the government. He also asked how the government could be barred from approving a grant.
He said that the prime minister should have a majority in the NA and that it was mandatory to have a majority in “financial matters”.
He went on to say that the Constitution gave the government the right to issue a supplementary grant and questioned how the assembly could intervene.
Taking post-facto approval of the grant would have been “risky”, the AGP replied. He said that in the current case, there was sufficient time to seek the NA’s approval before issuing the supplementary grant.
“The finance ministry’s team said again and again that approval for the supplementary grant could be sought later,” Justice Akhtar said, adding that the ministry had referenced Article 84 of the Constitution. He again wondered how the supplementary grant could be rejected by the NA.
“Are you aware of the consequences of rejecting a supplementary budget? First, answer this question then [we] will move forward,” Justice Akhtar said.
AGP Awan stated that the right to approve a supplementary grant lay with parliament. He said that the NA had already expressed its opinion regarding the matter at hand through a resolution.
“If the government was serious, could it not have gotten the supplementary grant approved?” Justice Akhtar asked. The AGP replied that if post-facto approval was not granted, then the expenses would be classified as “unconstitutional”.
“It is imperative for the premier to have a majority in the NA. AGP sahab try to understand, the matter is very serious,” Justice Akhtar said.
CJP Bandial remarked that there was no previous instance of referring administrative matters to the relevant standing committee. He added that the funds spent on election were a “necessary” expenditure.
“It is expected that the government will review its decision,” he said, adding that the government should either decide or again refer the matter to the NA. The AGP was told to inform the government regarding the court’s directives.
During the hearing, the CJP also observed that the electoral watchdog had stated that polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa could not be conducted till October. He further noted that the ECP had called for holding elections simultaneously in the country and had cited the security situation.
CJP Bandial said that several questions arose from the ECP’s stance. “Terrorism is ongoing in the country since 1992,” he said, noting that polls had been held in the country despite this.
He observed that the situation was particularly sensitive in 2008, adding that ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007. He questioned what new danger there was for not holding polls in the country.
The AGP replied and said that in the past security forces had performed their duties at one time. “Now, elections will take place in two provinces separately,” he said.
“What guarantee is there that the situation will improve by October 8?” the CJP asked, adding that the defence ministry had also made an estimate. “The government cannot function on mere estimates,” he said.
The SC then sought another response from the government regarding the provision of funds for holding elections in Punjab and KP. “Failure to provide funds could have serious consequences,” the CJP remarked.
Earlier this month, the SC had directed the government to provide Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by April 10, and directed the electoral body to provide a report on whether or not the government complied with the order on April 11.
However, the government referred the matter to Parliament which defied the court’s orders and refused to issue the funds.
Last week, the electoral watchdog had submitted a report to the Supreme Court in a sealed envelope. Though the contents of the report are not known, a source privy to the information told Dawn that the one-page report informed the apex court about the government’s reluctance to issue the Rs21bn needed for the purpose.
Subsequently, the court had directed the SBP to release funds worth Rs21bn for elections from Account No I — a principal component of the Federal Cons¬olidated Fund worth Rs1.39 trillion — and send an “appropriate communication” to this effect to the finance ministry by April 17.
Following the top court’s orders, the central bank on Monday allocated the funds and sought the finance ministry’s nod to release the amount.
The federal cabinet’s approval was required to release the amount from the FCF, while the government has to get the National Assembly’s approval for its release. But the same day, the coalition government managed through the NA the rejection of its own demand for the provision of Rs21bn as a supplementary grant to the ECP for holding polls in the two provinces.
On Tuesday, the ECP submitted a report in court saying that the staggering of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was not feasible since it involved significant expenditures compared to holding of polls on the same day.
On the other hand, the finance ministry said that in the wake of the rejection on part of the National Assembly to a government-sponsored motion to grant Rs21bn to the federal government for meeting expenditures, other than charged, during the financial year ending June 30, 2023, in respect of the ECP for holding the elections in Punjab and KP, it was difficult to sanction the release of the funds.
