National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf wrote a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday night in which he urged the higher judiciary to “exercise restraint” and respect parliament’s legislative domain.
In the five-page letter, Ashraf said, “The SC must, as far as possible, avoid getting involved in [the] political thicket. It is best to leave resolution of political matters by the parliament and the political parties.
“I, on behalf of the NA of Pakistan, urge the honourable chief justice and judges of the SC to exercise restraint, and respect the legislative domain of parliament.
“We must work together to uphold the Constitution, protect democratic values and work within our respective constitutional domains to ensure that confrontation between the organs of the state is avoided and constitutional order is maintained,” he said.
At the outset of the letter, the speaker said he was writing to convey the “profound concern and unease” of the country’s elected representatives regarding some recent decisions by the top courts as well as some comments made by some judges.
He said that the House felt that the “recent decisions” amounted to encroaching on its two core constitutional functions i.e. law making and power of the purse.
Citing Article 73 of the Constitution, the NA speaker said he was writing to convey the assembly’s “profound concern and deep unease” regarding the orders passed by the three-judge SC bench, in which it directed the central bank, the Finance Division and the government to allocate/release Rs21bn to the ECP.
He went on to say that by doing so, the bench had ignored the fact that the NA had passed a resolution against the SC’s decision to quash the ECP’s decision to delay polls in Punjab till October and had rejected the Charged Sums for General Elections (Provincial Assemblies of the Punjab and KP) Bill, while the NA standing committee had directed the Finance Division to seek the assembly’s prior approval.
“It is sadly noted that the three-member bench’s orders have completely disregarded the constitutional process and the prerogative of the NA with respect to financial matters,” he said.
He added that the bench “appeared to be in a hurry” and had, therefore, given “unusual directions” to the government to authorise the expenditure of Rs21bn from the Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) “and then present it as fait accompli to the NA”.
“The ex-post facto rejection of this amount by the NA, which will most certainly happen, would make this authorisation, albeit on court orders, unconstitutional and will surely lead to untoward consequences for the federal government. “The NA notes with great concern that despite knowing the consequences and effects of such prior authorisation, which will be rejected by the NA when presented for ex-post facto approval, the three-judge bench of the SC has threatened the federal government of ‘serious consequences’ for not authorising the expenditure of Rs21bn.
“This, the NA notes with great dismay, is an attempt to undermine the NA and amounts to breakdown of the constitutional order. The NA is quite clear that such direction is an impermissible intrusion into the exclusive jurisdiction and authority of the NA, a breach of its privilege,” Ashraf said. The NA speaker further said that the power of the purse belonged solely to the lower house of parliament, adding that the assembly would defend this right. “Any attempt to circumvent and sidestep the constitutional mechanism and due process shall be repelled by the NA,” he said.
He went on to say that he was also conveying the sense of the House that an “unnecessary confrontation, deeply damaging to national interest, is being created by the repeated orders to release funds to the ECP, disregarding the express will of the NA”. Ashraf said the assembly would approve the expenditure for general elections to all assemblies in the annual budget for the next fiscal year. He said that directing the executive to authorise expenditure from the FCF and seek ex-post facto approval when the NA had repeatedly rejected the demand “militates against the trichotomy principle embedded in our Constitution”. As the Speaker of the National Assembly and the custodian of the House, I invite your collective attention to the following:
(a) The National Assembly believes that since SMC No. 1/2023 and CPS No. 1 and 2 of 2023 were dismissed by a majority of 4-3, therefore, the so-called ’32’ decision has no legal force. As such, the orders dated 04-04-2023, 14-04 -2023 and 19-04-2023 passed in CP No. 05/2023 and various CMAs have no legal force. Therefore, they neither enunciate a principle of law nor are to be implemented in terms of Articles 189 and 190 of the Constitution; (b) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the rejection of Rs 21 billion, either as a charged sum or as other expenditure through supplementary grant, by the National Assembly does not constitute loss of confidence of the National Assembly in the Federal Government or the Prime Minister. The rejection of Rs. 21 billion is based on the understanding of the National Assembly that the orders of the 3-member Bench dated 04-04-2023, 14-04-2023 and 19-042023 are in violation of a 4-3 majority decision in SMC No. 1/2023 and CPS No. 1 and 2 of 2023. “We have always believed in the principle of separation of powers, and the Parliament has always respected the independence of the Judiciary. However, it is Important to remember that each Branch has its own domain and should not encroach upon the powers of the other. I am also to convey to you the sense of the House that an unnecessary confrontation, deeply damaging to the national interest, is being created by the repeated orders to release funds to the Election Commission of Pakistan, disregarding the express will of the National Assembly. The National Assembly will approve the expenditure for the general elections to all the assemblies (National and four Provincial) in the annual budget (statement) for the next financial year, presented by the Federal Government, in due course,” the letter read.
“It has been 50 years since the adoption of the Constitution and during this time, we have witnessed numerous encroachments upon the powers of the Parliament by the dictators,” the letter read. “The higher Judiciary has, and sadly so, mostly ratified the undemocratic interventions. However, the people of Pakistan have always fought back, struggled for the restoration of democracy, with their blood and sweat and have always prevailed. They also strived for the establishment of an independent Judiciary. However, unfortunately, the Judiciary mostly trained its gun towards the same politicians who defended it during difficult times.”
