Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the coalition government's request for the formation of a full bench to hear Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s petition against the election of Punjab chief minister.
Earlier, the court observed that more clarity was required to decide on whether to form a full bench on the matter or not.
“We will have to hear more arguments before it takes a decision about the formation of full court bench to issue a verdict on the case,” remarked Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial as the apex court resumed hearing on the case after a brief interval.
Meanwhile, the court also accepted the petition filed by PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and the PPP to become a party in the case.
Earlier, the top court resumed hearing Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Peervez Elahi's petition against Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Mohammad Mazari’s decision in re-election of the provincial chief minister which led to Hamza Shehbaz’s victory.
On Friday, the Punjab Assembly deputy speaker had dismissed Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid's (PML-Q) 10 votes after party head Chaudhry Shujaat asked them to vote in favour of Hamza, but they did not follow his instructions.
But the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pervez Elahi did not accept this and approached the SC.
A three-member bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, is holding the hearing at the Supreme Court's room number 1.
At the previous hearing on Saturday, the court had allowed Hamza to remain “trustee” chief minister till Monday (today).
Strict security measures have been taken as Rangers have been deployed at entry points of the apex court to avoid any untoward situation.
