LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday discussed with legal brains of PML-N the likely outcome of the provincial elections case set to be taken up by the Supreme Court on Monday.

Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar briefed the participants about legal intricacies in the case and the chances of the three-member apex court bench fixing responsibilities for violation of its March 1 verdict on Punjab polls.

A participant of the meeting said the party feared that Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial-led bench could indict some federal authorities besides the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor and Election Commission of Pakistan officials for not holding polls to the Punjab and KP assemblies within 90 days of their dissolution as per the earlier decision of the court.

About the strategy the ruling coalition would adopt during Monday’s hearing, Malik Ahmed Khan said they would first try to convince the court that it should clarify the ‘ambiguity’ about how many judges of the seven-member bench had rejected the PTI’s petition for the polls and how many had accepted it.

Shehbaz discusses with PML-N’s legal team likely outcome of elections case

He said they would again demand that a full-court bench should be formed to hear the case to avert any controversy and if it was rejected, they would consider boycotting the court proceedings.

The PML-N meeting, held at Model Town, was attended by the party leaders including Mr Tarar, Special Assistant to Prime Minister Malik Ahmad Khan, former National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Ataullah Tarar.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry had reportedly said earlier in the day that the Supreme Court would send packing another prime minister on Monday if its verdict (on provincial polls) was not implemented.

In a statement, he argued that the CJP-led bench was meant to implement the March 1 order and not to hear the case anew.

Meanwhile, PM Shehbaz has convened a meeting of the parliamentary party on Monday (today) for consulting MPs on the political and legal issues before the start of the National Assembly session.

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2023