ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan adjourned the hearing of the suo moto case on Thursday saying the court would not tolerate violation of the constitution.
During the hearing of the case on Thursday, three judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan raised objections to the suo moto notice and leaked audio involving an SC judge.
Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court (SC) raised questions on the legality of dissolution of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.
Justice Mandokhail also highlighted the leaked audio issue involving a judge of the apex court Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi.
On Wednesday night, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial took suo moto notice of the delay in the elections of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.
The CJP also constituted a nine-member larger bench to hear the case on Thursday.
Apart from Justice Minallah and CJP Bandial, the bench includes Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.
Meanwhile, in view of the objections raised by some judges of the bench, the Chief Justice adjourned the hearing of the case for Friday.
The CJP also issued notices to the ECP, Punjab, the KP caretaker governments, and political parties in this case.
Justice Athar Minallah said that the court should determine the legality of the dissolved assemblies.
The CJP said that we need to determine who holds the authority for giving the date of the elections after the dissolution of the assembly.
The previous chief ministers of Punjab and Pakhtunkhwa dissolved assemblies on Jan 14 and 17. Under the Constitution, the elections will be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the assembly.
During the hearing, the court observed that Punjab Governor Baligh ur Rehman said that he did not dissolve the provincial assembly.
