Widely publicised case, the "Nawaz Sharif vs. Federation", the supreme court relied its judgement based on the principle of "salus populi est suprema lex" and rejected the options of "complete surrender" to the regime or total opposition which, in its judgement, would have led to the "closure of the courts". Due to the Thirteenth Amendment removed the effective check and balance of branches of the government, the supreme court marked its reference using the ""Necessitas facit licitum quod alias non-est licitum"" and asserted on the right of the Superior Courts to review the orders, proceedings, acts, and legislative measures of the Musharraf regime. In addition, the situation was termed by the supreme court as a "case of constitutional deviation for a transitional period", and accepted Musharraf's argument for holding the national elections within two-to-three years, giving Musharraf until 12 May 2002 to hold new elections. While issuing a lengthy judgement, the supreme court effectively established its institutional authority on Musharraf as it reserved for its right to review and re-examine the continuation of Musharraf's emergency powers.