Islamabad, Apr 17 (PTI) The lower house of Pakistan's Parliament on Monday rejected a supplementary demand for Rs 21 billion grant for elections in Punjab despite the Supreme Court's order, deepening the uncertainty over the polls in the politically crucial province and adding to tensions between the government and the judiciary.

Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar moved the supplementary demand motion in the National Assembly, the lower house, to meet the expenditures for elections after the Cabinet referred the matter to Parliament.

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However, the house turned down the request.

The move by the government came as the deadline given by the Supreme Court to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to release the required funds for the election was expiring on Monday.

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Separately, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha told the media that neither the SBP nor the Finance Division had the authority to release funds from the Federal Consolidated Funds.

She explained that the process of the allocation required approval from Parliament.

“Without the approval of the Parliament, no bill or budget has any legal authenticity…Hence, we leave the entire matter to the Parliament now. The Parliament is supreme for us because this is what is written in the Constitution,” Pasha said.

She elaborated that the SBP can only allocate the money but cannot release it until and unless a proper indication was given by the Finance Division.

Parliament and the judiciary have locked horns over the holding of elections in the two provinces as the former has refused to authorise the funds to meet the expenditures.

The deadlock has increased political instability and with the economy already in freefall, the threat of default of the country has increased.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court (SC) had declared as “unconstitutional” the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision to postpone the election in Punjab, in a blow to the government that has been trying to delay the provincial election citing security issues and the economic crisis.

The three-member bench — headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan — had also fixed May 14 as the date for the poll in the province.

The apex court had ordered the federal government to provide Rs21 billion in funds by April 10 to the ECP and directed the body to present a report on the issue by April 11.

The government missed the deadline for the release of the funds.

The SC then went on to order the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to release the funds.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)