Pak govt decides not to accept SC’s decision on Punjab polls

Anticipating an adverse decision from the Supreme Court bench in the Punjab polls case, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government on Saturday held a meeting, The Nation reported, adding that during the meeting, Pakistan’s coalition government decided that any decision made by the three judges in the case will be unacceptable. The development further deepens the constitutional and political crisis in Pakistan as the institutions find themselves at loggerheads. At a huddle with allies PDM and PPP, Pakistan’s federal government expressed “complete no-confidence” in the three-member bench, as per the news report. They further called upon the court to discontinue the proceedings of the case forthwith. The situation could turn tense as the coalition partners touched upon the possibility of moving a reference against Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and two other members of the bench, as per The Nation report. The two sides adopting these defensive postures does not go well for the stability of the country. The suo motu proceedings also became controversial as the five-member bench was reduced to a three-judge bench after two members recused themselves from hearing the case respectively on March 30 and March 31, as per the news report. The CJP rejected the government’s plea to form a full bench to hear the plea. The Chief Justice of Pakistan stressed that the decision will only further delay the proceedings.