SBP is required by SC to provide election funds.
Hearing in chambers comes to a close; top judges will give an order following Friday prayers.
ISLAMABAD: After the federal government failed to provide the money on the designated date, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to provide Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for holding polls for the Punjab Assembly.
The highest court judges informed Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan at an in-chamber session presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial that the court instructions must be obeyed in the suo motu case seeking the delay of Punjab elections.
Sources claim that the AGP answered challenging questions and outlined the government’s position. Regarding the non-disbursement of monies, the judges expressed their rage.
After Friday prayers, the supreme court will give a formal order.
Prior to the hearing, the AGP met with representatives of the finance ministry, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also requested advice from the AGP.
The hearing was attended by Special Secretary for Finance Owais Manzoor Samra, Additional Secretary for Finances Amar Mehmood, and Additional Secretary for Finances Tanveer Butt. The hearing was also attended by the acting governor of the State Bank, Seema Kamil, the deputy governor, Inayat Hussain Chaudhry, the director, Qadir Baksh, and the protocol officer, Mohsin Afzal.
Additionally present were the director general of the Law ECP as well as the ECP secretary and assistant secretary.
Gov. statement
The administration claimed in a statement to the SC that “an Act of Parliament is necessary” in order to “issue any money from the Federal Consolidated Fund and/or create a charge thereon,” but the National Assembly “rejected” the measure authorizing the release of electoral funds.
The issuance of any funds from the Federal Consolidated Fund is subject to parliamentary clearance, which the Parliament has refused to grant to the federal government in order to organize general elections for the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assemblies.
The government was not permitted “under the Constitution to ask the State Bank of Pakistan” for money, the statement said.
