The Supreme Court on Tuesday resumed the hearing petitions related to the recently held election for the coveted post of Punjab chief minister, a day after it rejected the coalition government's request for the formation of a full court. The proceedings began at 11:30 am, with the coalition boycotting the SC proceedings. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial will hear the petitions. Political bigwigs including PTI’s Babar Awan, Fawad Chaudhry, Shibli Faraz, Azam Swati and Faisal Javed; PML-Q’s Moonis Elahi and PPP’s Farooq H Naek have reached the apex court for the hearing. Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mazari’s counsel, Irfan Qadir, came on the rostrum where he stated that he was told to not be a part of the proceedings. “I will not be a part of further proceedings”, he maintained. Qadir stated that he would file a revision against the order rejecting the petition requesting the formation of a full five-member bench, to which the chief justice replied that the court had decided that there was no need for a full court to hear the case. “Arguments were made in the court regarding the compliance of the party leader’s instructions,” the Chief Justice of Pakistan said, adding that the lawyers for the parties were told that the Constitution did not allow for obstruction of governance. Justice Bandial maintained that the request for the formation of the full court was nothing more than delaying the case and apex court judges were not available before the second week of September. He further maintained that he would prefer to complete the case soon for the sake of governance and crisis resolution. “Bringing the case before the complete bench is tantamount to subjecting the case to unnecessary adjournment”, the CJ said, reiterating that the matter would have been delayed to September as members of the court were on vacation. PPP leader Farooq Naek also appeared on the rostrum and stated that his party would also not appear in court. The chief justice, however, told Naek that he had done well in assisting the court on Monday and permitted him to take his seat. Justice Bandial added that the PPP was not made a party in the case. Earlier, the apex court had rejected the coalition government’s request for the formation of a full court to hear Elahi's petition against the provincial chief minister's election. A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, heard the petition filed by Elahi, who is also a candidate for the CM's office, against the ruling of Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari over the fate of PML-Q votes in the Punjab CM's election. Mazari, in his ruling, had rejected 10 votes of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid's (PML-Q) members relying upon the Supreme Court's verdict that votes of those lawmakers, who defied the party leadership's instructions, would not be counted.
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