Election suo motu: Law minister asserts SC rejected pleas with 4-3 majority.

ISLAMABAD -- While commenting on the Supreme Court verdict in its election date suo motu case, Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar said he believed that the petitions had been rejected by a 4-3 majority.

The federal minister said this while speaking to media regarding the apex court's verdict that has directed the president and the concerned governor to fix suitable dates for the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa respectively.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, ruled that elections should be held within 90 days. However, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Mandokhail jointly dissented with the majority verdict, saying "the suo motu proceedings do not constitute a fit case to exercise the extraordinary original jurisdiction of this court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution and are thus not maintainable as the same constitutional and legal issues seeking the same relief are pending and being deliberated upon by the respective provincial high courts in Lahore and Peshawar, without there being any inordinate delay in the conduct of the proceedings before them'.

'The Election Commission is therefore directed to use its utmost efforts to immediately propose, keeping in mind ss. 57 and 58 of the 2017 Act, a date to the president that is compliant with the aforesaid deadline. If such a course is not available, then the Election Commission shall in like manner propose a date for the holding of the poll that deviates to the barest minimum from the aforesaid deadline. After consultation with the Election Commission, the president shall announce a date for the...