SC adjourns presidential reference about Senate elections till Monday

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned hearing on the presidential reference seeking an opinion on open balloting for the upcoming Senate elections till Monday.

A five-member SC larger bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Yahya Afridi heard the reference.

During the course of proceedings, Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan said the Pakistan People Party (PPP) had changed its position but he had same stance.

The local bodies elections were held under provincial laws and the Election Act, he added.

Justice Bandial said the local bodies elections were held under the Local Government Act.

The Attorney General said that the Constitution and the law provided a complete mechanism for local government elections. The Balochistan and Sindh high courts had declared holding of the local government elections through secret ballot, he added.

He said he was a PPP lawyer in the Sindh High Court in the local body elections case. The court had asked for an amendment in the Sindh Local Government Act, he added.

He said that the Election Act 2017 was totally silent on challenging elections under the Constitution.

Meanwhile, a counsel of the Election Commission of Pakistan informed the court that the ECP had issued the schedule of Senate elections.

“The nomination papers will be received from tomorrow, while ballot papers are also required to be printed,” the ECP counsel said.

The court directed the Attorney General to complete his arguments in 15 minutes on Monday. After the Attorney General, Senator Raza Rabbani would start his arguments followed by all the four advocate generals.