Polls held even during 20 years of terrorism: CJP Bandial.

ISLAMABAD -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday resumed hearing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) petition against the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) delaying polls for the Punjab Assembly as the government moved to reduce the powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP).

A five-member larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail is seized with the matter.

However, the proceedings witnessed ambiguity regarding the earlier apex court judgement of March 1 as one of the judges on the five-member bench, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, made it clear that the case was dismissed by a majority 4-3 as the chief justice did not issue an "order of the court".

Earlier, Chief Justice Bandial overruled the objection raised by Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Usman Awan about the bench hearing the PTI's petition as a "technical point" to be raised in a separate application.

Prior to that Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail on Monday had cast doubt on the judgement handed down in the March 1 suo motu regarding elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, saying that the proceedings stood dismissed by a majority of 4-3, and contended that the chief justice of Pakistan did not have the power to restructure benches without the consent of the respective judges.

The apex court is expected to pass a judgement on the case today.

As the proceedings began, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) counsel Farooq Naek appeared before the court and asked for the party to be included as a respondent in the case.

When asked by the chief justice if the application was on behalf of the incumbent ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the lawyer stated that the PPP was not a part of the PDM.

The chief justice ordered the electoral watchdog's lawyer to present his arguments first.

Conversely, Justice Mandokhail, referring to the apex court's March 1 judgement regarding elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab, said four judges had 'dismissed' the proceedings.

Justice Mandokhail added that according to him, the verdict of the four judges in the suo motu case was the 'order of the court' and the chief justice had 'not issued an order of the court'.

He questioned how the...