Supreme Court summons finance secretary, AGP, Governor SPB, ECP officials on Friday over non-provision of election funds

ISLAMABAD, April 12 (SABAH): The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday issued notices to the finance secretary, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Director General (Law) Election Commission of Pakistan over the government’s failure to disburse Rs21 billion in funds for polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The top court has instructed the officials to appear before the Court (in Chambers) on April 14. The notice has been issued by the Registrar Supreme Court of Pakistan Ishrat Ali.

According to the notice, the failure of the Federal Government to comply with April 4 order of providing Rs21 billion to ECP for holding elections in Punjab and KP prime facie amounts to disobedience and consequence of such defiance to court are well settled and well known. Every person who embarks upon, encourages or instigates disobedience or defiance of the Court can be held liable and accountable.

In its April 4 verdict — issued by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — the SC had ordered the government to provide Rs21bn in funds to the ECP to conduct elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by April 10, and directed the ECP to provide a report to the court on whether or not the government complied with the order on April 11.

The ECP, in a report submitted on Tuesday, informed the court about the government’s reluctance to issue the amount needed for elections.

The government, meanwhile, has referred the matter to Parliament to decide.

In a notice issued by the SC registrar on Wednesday, the apex court noted that the report submitted by the ECP on Tuesday stated “no funds have at all been released and provided to it as required by the order of the court”.

“The failure of the federal government to comply with the order of the court as aforesaid is prima facie disobedience,” it observed. “The consequences that can flow from such prima facie defiance of the court are well settled and known.

“Every person who embarks upon, encourages or instigates disobedience or defiance of the court can be held liable and accountable,” the notice pointed out.

It highlighted that the “disobedience” by the federal government would put the conduct of timely elections as mandated by the Constitution in “jeopardy”.

“The question of the provision of funds for such a vital constitutional purpose is something that requires immediate attention which takes priority over proceeding against those who may have committed contempt of the court,” the SC said.

Subsequently, the court issued a notice to the SBP governor and the next senior most official of the bank and directed them to appear before the chamber of the judges on Friday, April 14, at 11am. It directed them to bring the record and details of money owned by the federal government lying with or under the control, custody or management of the central bank.

The court also issued notices to the AGP, the finance secretary and the “next most senior official” in the Finance Ministry for an in-person appearance the same day. “The said officials shall bring with them all the relevant record and shall place before the court a detailed report as to why the order of the court made in para 5 of Const. P. 5/2023 has not been complied with, as stated by the commission,” it said.

Issuing similar notices to the ECP secretary and director general law, the court directed them to prepare and submit the full record pertaining to the general elections to the Punjab and KP assemblies.

The notice said that the provision of funds for the election was more important than contempt of court proceedings, but according to the ECP report, the government did not provide the funds, which was a violation of court orders. It added that the consequences for breaching court orders were apparent in the law.

The court ordered the SBP governor to bring all details regarding the available resources and directed the finance secretary to provide all records and inquire why the orders of the SC were not followed.

Furthermore, the apex court ordered the ECP secretary to provide all records related to Punjab and KP elections.

Though the contents of the report submitted by the ECP in court on Tuesday are not known, a source privy to the information told a private TV channel that the one-page report informed the apex court about the government’s reluctance to issue the Rs21 billion needed for the purpose.

The report also stated that the caretaker government of Punjab had informed the election watchdog that due to resource constraints, the government could only sanction 75,000 security personnel against the demand for 300,000 security forces.

It may be mentioned that the SC had in its verdict ordered the Punjab caretaker cabinet and in particular, the chief secretary and the police chief, to provide a plan acceptable to the ECP for providing sufficient personnel for election duty and security purposes.

In case, the Punjab government and its officials must, in the discharge of constitutional and legal duties and responsibilities, proactively provide all aid and assistance to the commission for the holding and conduct of the general election, as per the judgment.