ISLAMABAD: Three ruling political parties on Saturday requested the Supreme Court to constitute a bench comprising all SC judges except Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi to hear the suo motu case regarding the delay in the announcement of a date for polls in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

The request for the reconstitution of the bench was presented in a joint application by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F).

A day earlier, the ruling coalition requested the recusal of the two apex court judges from a larger Supreme Court bench in the suo motu case.

In the joint statement earlier, it was requested that both judges “recuse themselves from hearing any matter involving PML-N, PPP and JUI-F and their leadership” for the “interest of justice, fair play and to protect the fundamental right to a fair trial and due process”.

The application submitted today noted that the “circumstances have raised several questions of immense legal, constitutional and public importance”, adding that Justice Mandokhail’s observations also “raise significant constitutional questions” regarding the exercise of suo moto powers.

It stated that a bench comprising all SC judges, excluding Justice Ahsan and Justice Naqvi, be constituted to hear the case “in the interested of justice and fairness”.

The application said that “the prayer has been made in the best interest of justice and to strengthen the confidence of the public in the Supreme Court of Pakistan”.

Earlier this week, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial took suo motu notice of the delay in holding polls in Punjab and K-P and constituted a nine-member larger bench to adjudicate on the matter.

The nine-member bench comprised the CJP, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah.

A statement issued by the apex court said the bench will assess who was eligible to issue the date for polls, the constitutional responsibility of the federation and provinces, and who will fulfil the constitutional responsibility of conducting elections and when.

Following the CJP’s action, Justice Mandokhail expressed his reservations over the invoking of suo motu jurisdiction regarding the delay in the election date announcements, saying that it was not ‘justified’.