Islamabad (Web Desk): The Supreme Court (SC) is hearing today (Wednesday) the petition filed by the defence ministry seeking elections on the same date across the country.
According to details, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar is hearing the petition.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence filed a petition seeking elections across the country on the same date and requested the court to withdraw its order directing Punjab polls on May 14.
It is pertinent to mention that the same bench on April 4 announced the verdict directing the government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold elections in Punjab next month.
The defence ministry, along with the application, also issued a report in the top court, highlighting the need of holding the elections on the same day in view of the heightened security situation in the country.
The ministry in its report also said that the armed forces would be able to carry out election duties by early October.
As per the report, due to the prevalent security situation and counter-terrorism operations being carried out in KP and Balochistan as well as the intelligence-based operations in Punjab and Sindh, the armed forces, Rangers, Frontier Constabulary and other forces are not logistically available to be repositioned and re-posted for providing election security, twice in a span of six months.
"Significant time is required to prepare the members of the armed forces for the election duty, given much of the force has been actively engaged in operations for a considerable period of time," the application said, adding the security situation in Punjab and Sindh has been stable in the light of the efforts of the ongoing operations in KP and Balochistan, respectively.
Therefore, any diversion of troops from KP and Balochistan will result in directly affecting the security situation in Punjab and Sindh, the application explained.
On Tuesday, the ECP, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ministry of Finance submitted their reports to SC regarding the provision of funds for elections in Punjab.
As per the report by the electoral body, the state bank has failed to transfer the funds of Rs21 billion by April 17.
Meanwhile, the SBP submitted its own account detailing the reasons behind its failure in releasing the amount.
The Finance Ministry, through the Attorney General's Office, also submitted its report on the matter and included the details of the federal cabinet's decision to return the matter to the parliament.
Moreover, the ministry also informed the apex court of the assistance provided to the SBP and the relevant legal aspects related to the transfer of funds.