Former information minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Tuesday that the government was running a well-thought-out campaign to undermine Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Aaj News reported.

Speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court, Fawad remarked that the campaign had gone to waste after Justice Jamal Mandokhail described the disagreements in the court as an ‘internal matter’.

He also alleged that the government issued additional funds to TV channels in the guise of advertisements to be part of the campaign against the Chief Justice.

Fawad also said the court had questioned the Election Commission’s reasoning for the lack of funds and security to delay elections.

He added that newly-appointed Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan had been caught like a “rabbit in the spotlight” when questioned by the court.

He added that the argument about the lack of funding was strange because it would send the wrong message to the world that the country with atomic weapons could not spare a few million to organise elections.

He added that the government had allocated about Rs100 billion under development and laptop schemes but could not give a smaller amount for elections.

Fawad also said that the argument about the government not being able to spare enough security would also send the wrong message to people hoping to invest in Pakistan by portraying the country as an unsafe place.

His comments come after CJP Bandial remarked that the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to postpone the Punjab assembly election till October 2023 was “taken in haste”.

His remarks came as the SC resumed hearing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) petition against the ECP order to delay the polls. He also said that the court did not want to drag the matter.

He also proposed a pay cut for himself and other judges to enable authorities to fund elections nationwide.

During the hearing, Justice Jamal Mandokhail questioned what ECP would do if SC revoked its decision to delay elections.

Later, SC adjourned the hearing till Wednesday.