The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday ordered the country’s primary state-run bank to release funds for the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces that it has ordered, thus deepening the judicial leadership’s rift with a poll-wary government.
The Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government did not give the money even after the April 10 deadline set by the court, which earlier this month ordered elections on May 14 in Punjab and KP, both of which were ruled by former PM Imran Khan’s party.
The SC bench headed by the Chief Justice has now set a 72-hour deadline for the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to directly give the money to the poll panel. This simply bypasses the government, at a time when the Sharif regime appears reluctant to face an electoral test.
Set to go to polls anyhow after the court’s orders, Punjab is the fulcrum of the action in Pakistan’s politics. In recent times, Imran Khan has gathered significant support here but now-PM Shehbaz Sharif was its chief minister for years when his elder brother Nawaz Sharif served as PM. As for KP, the Pashtun-dominated region next to Afghanistan is seen as the backyard of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
On the funds for elections, the State Bank’s governor is to submit a compliance report on April 18, as per the order now by a three-judge bench comprising CJP Umar Ata Bandial and Justices Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Munib Akhtar.
The Election Commission had on April 11 formally told the court that the federal government had not given the funds yet. The court then summoned the government officials concerned, who were asked to explain themselves. The order for the bank to release the funds came after an in-chamber hearing.
The Chief Justice had summoned officials from the finance ministry, SBP and poll panel to his chamber to seek a reply on the funds, warning that non-compliance would have consequences.
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