Islamabad: The Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday rejected the coalition governments request to form a full bench on the deputy speaker’s ruling pertaining to the contentious Punjab Chief Minister election, media reports said.
The three-judge bench hearing the petition had earlier observed that it needed more clarity to decide on whether to form a full court bench on the matter, Express Tribune reported.
“We need more clarity on certain things to decide on the formation of a full court,” said Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, as the apex court resumed hearing on the case after a brief interval.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan, who is part of a three-member bench, remarked that the apex court wanted to hear the matter of the deputy speaker’s controversial ruling on merit before deciding about forming a full bench.
The chief justice maintained that a full bench had been formed in the past in the matter of utmost importance and added that it could be formed if the issue lingered on.
“We believe that the full court is only constituted when the matter is complicated,” the chuief justice remarked, Express Tribune reported.
Chief Justice Bandial said the main point of contention before the bench was that whether a party head could issue directions to his parliamentary party members.
PML-N’s counsel Irfan Qadir told the bench that Punjab CM Hamza Shehbaz and the coalition government wanted a full bench to hear the matter.
(IANS)
