“It’s high time to call a spade a spade and not a time to put everything under the rug only to please someone,” the chief justice said. – File Photo

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court gave another opportunity to the government on Thursday to come up with a solution to a constitutional crisis that has emerged because of election of a number of parliamentarians and members of provincial assemblies through an Election Commission that was still to meet the criteria set in the 18th Amendment.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Mohammad Sair Ali and Justice Ghulam Rabbani adjourned for three weeks proceedings on a petition by Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, but made it clear that it could have issued an appropriate order, but had shown restraint with an understanding that the government and the Election Commission would find a way to overcome the difficulty.

The petitioner’s counsel Hamid Khan said the crisis had no solution, except a new constitutional amendment.

“In case no solution is suggested, the Supreme Court, being the custodian of the Constitution, would be bound to pass an order to save the system from further erosion and to ensure that all organs of the state continue to follow the Constitution in letter and spirit,” said an order issued after lengthy proceedings.

Imran Khan has challenged the electoral rolls prepared by the Election Commission of Pakistan and inclusion of bogus voters in them.

The period provided under Article 267-A of the Constitution to remove difficulties in implementing the 18th Amendment expired on April 20.

The amendment commands the government to appoint a permanent Election Commission comprising the chief election commissioner and four members, each of whom should have been a judge of a high court. The constitutional decree is yet to be fulfilled.

Preparation of electoral rolls and holding elections to the Senate or to fill vacancies in the national or provincial assemblies are responsibility of the commission.

In the absence of a properly constituted commission, the position of some key cabinet members, including Ministers Hafeez Shaikh and Dr Asim Hussain, will come under the clouds.

Three senators, nine MNAs and 11 MPAs have been elected in by-elections after the adoption of the 18th Amendment -- Senators Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Dr Asim Hussain and Syed Sajid Hussain Zaidi; MNAs Chaudhry Asghar Ali Jutt (NA-167, Vehari-I), Jamshed Ahmed Dasti (NA-178, Muzaffargarh-III), Mohammad Akhtar Khan Kanju (NA-155, Lodhran-II), Sardar Mohammad Shafqat Hayat Khan (NA-68, Sargodha-V), Chaudhry Tassadaq Masud Khan (NA-100, Gujranwala-VI), Haji Khuda Bux Rajar (NA-235, Old Sanghar-II), Khadija Aamir Yar Malik (NA-184, Bahawalpur-II), Sardar Mumtaz Khan (NA-61, Chakwal-II) and Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari (NA-172, D.G. Khan-II); and MPAs Ghulam Qadir Khan Bettani (PK-69, Tank), Mohammad Rashad Khan (PK-87, Shangla-I), Maulvi Mohammad Sarwar Musakhel (PB-15, Musakhel), Saifuddin Khalid (PS-94, Karachi-VI), Syed Basit Ahmed Sultan (PP-259, Muzaffargarh-IV), Mian Mohammad Ajmal Asif (PP-63, Faisalabad-XII), Ahmed Mujtaba Gilani (PP-206, Multan-XIII), Sardar Meer Badshah Qaisrani (PP-240, D.G. Khan-I), Malik Saiful Malook Khokhar (PP-160, Lahore-XXIV), Ijaz Ahmad Kahloon (PP-34, Sargodha-VI) and Malik Ghulam Raza (PP-13, Rawalpindi-XIII).

Advocate Naseer Bhutta, a PML-N MNA who is representing a couple of public representatives, told the court that he had informed Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani about the situation during the recent joint sitting of both houses of parliament. He said he should be allowed to meet the prime minister and the leader of opposition in the National Assembly to find a solution without prejudicing the merits of the case pending before the court.

The court observed that it was not only its duty to draw attention of all concerned to different provisions of the Constitution because Article 5 imposed an obligation on everybody to ensure loyalty to the state and obedience to the Constitution and the law.

Those whose elections had been held after the 18th Amendment were equally bound as citizens of Pakistan and elected representatives to show obedience to and protect and preserve the Constitution, the order said.

It said the court had observed time and again that in a democratic dispensation, no other system but adherence to the Constitution was acceptable and now it was for the government to resolve this controversy.

“It’s high time to call a spade a spade and not a time to put everything under the rug only to please someone,” the chief justice said.