Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Sunday cautioned State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) officials against disbursing Rs21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for holding polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, indicating that the money would be “recovered” from whoever authorises the payment.

The Supreme Court on April 14 had ordered the central bank to release by April 17 (Monday) Rs21b from Account No. I — a principal component of the Federal Conso­lidated Fund worth Rs1.39 trillion — for holding the much-delayed elections to the two dissolved provincial assemblies.

Speaking on Geo News show ‘Naya Pakistan’ today, the interior minister was questioned whether the amount due to the ECP would be released, to which he said: “I can’t say if the SBP officials concerned will release [the amount] or not but … I think this will be a very serious matter.”

He said a serious objection will be raised against the central bank’s decision of releasing the money, based on which “those carrying this payment could suffer [a penalty of] recovery”.

Sanaullah cautioned that those authorising and ordering the payment could “have to later suffer the recovery of Rs21bn all their lives”, adding that it was a very large amount to recover and could trigger many new problems.

He reiterated that there were “clear chances” that those making the payment “will be held responsible for it in the future”.

Sanaullah questioned that if someone did not even have the authority to execute an act, how could they exercise it on the Supreme Court’s orders.

“How can I take money out of an account? This Supreme Court order can be reviewed tomorrow and even be declared illegal.”

Confronted with the fact that the Constitution clearly stated that elections are to be held within 90 days following the dissolution of assemblies, Sanaullah said: “The Constitution doesn’t say that. It absolutely does not say that.

“These assemblies weren’t dissolved. These assemblies were sacrificed over a stubborn and egoistic lie. This was an unconstitutional decision which should have been reviewed.”

The PML-N leader made it clear that parliament will always step up against unconstitutional decisions.

Sanaullah also spoke about the “sincere effort” made by Jamaat-i-Islami chief Siraj ul Haq by meeting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former premier Imran Khan over the deadlock persisting between the government and PTI.

“They discussed that talks between politicians should never stop as that is the only way to solve problems,” he said, citing that Siraj encountered the same “ego and stubbornness” when he met the PTI chairman.

“There was a message from there (PTI side) that he (Imran) wouldn’t sit for talks but will direct a team to,” Sanaullah said. “His team doesn’t matter, he doesn’t listen to them. Therefore, sincere talks cannot be held,” he added.

Elections won’t happen on May 14

Earlier in the day while speaking to the media in Faisalabad Sanaullah ruled out elections on May 14 “no matter how much pressure they (PTI) apply”.

“Elections will be held together under a caretaker setup and will be held this year,” he said. “If they don’t take place in May then October isn’t that far.”

The interior minister urged the people to continue their election campaign and spread PML-N’s message to every house in their area.