Supreme Court judge Justice Athar Minallah has released his detailed note and remarked that the court should not take up political matters, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Justice Athar Minallah was one of the four judges of the top court who had recused himself from a nine-judge bench hearing election date suo motu notice regarding a delay in the announcement of a date for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over a month ago.

Justice Minallah now released the 25-page detailed note observing that the court should not hear political matters on its own. “Objection was raised to suo motu notice which was disposed of,” he added

While recusing himself from the bench over a month ago, Justice Athar Minallah in his dissenting note then had said that the order of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial "does not appear to be consistent with the proceedings and the order dictated" in the open court.”

The SC judge had noted that the questions raised before them cannot be considered in isolation because questions regarding the constitutional legality of the dissolution of the provincial assemblies of Punjab and KP cannot be ignored. "Were they dissolved in violation of the scheme and principles of constitutional democracy before completion of the term prescribed under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ('the Constitution')?"

Justice Minallah had said the questions regarding the legality of the dissolution involve far more serious violations of fundamental rights, adding “the matter before us is definitely premature, because it is pending before a Constitutional Court of a province, as noted in the opinion of my learned brother Yahya Afridi, J."

 He said the Chief Justice has the authority to constitute benches and clarified his position saying that it should be noted that he neither left the bench nor gave any such reasons in his brief note.
About the use of Article 184(3), he said political stability is essential for economic stability in the country, adding that in 1999, an elected minister was ousted by the then army chief and the assembly dissolved and at that time, the Supreme Court justified the move by using Article 184 (3)
and in 1999, the Army Chief as Chief Executive was also allowed to amend the Constitution.

Reporter: Amanat Gishkori