Thursday, February 13, 2025
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HomeTop NewsSupreme Court to take up ECP plea against Punjab polls on Monday

Supreme Court to take up ECP plea against Punjab polls on Monday

Monday, the Supreme Court will hear ECP’s appeal against the Punjab elections.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan is set to hear the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) petition that challenges the court’s earlier order regarding elections to the Punjab Assembly on Monday. The hearing comes a day after May 14, the date on which the top court had ordered polls to be held in the province, which is the largest in the country.

The court’s earlier verdict came in response to a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which was heard by the same three-member bench. The PTI-led Punjab government had dissolved the provincial assembly in January to force the ruling coalition to hold snap polls. Despite the electoral authority postponing the Punjab polls to October, the government has consistently asserted that the elections will take place in October or November of this year. As a result, the PTI challenged the postponement decision.

On April 4, the Supreme Court declared the ECP’s decision to postpone the polls unconstitutional, without lawful authority or jurisdiction, void ab-initio, and of no legal effect. The court ordered the electoral body to hold polls in Punjab on May 14 and directed the federal government to release Rs21 billion for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, the government has not released the funds yet.

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The ECP has now moved the Supreme Court to review its April 4 directives, stating that the judiciary does not have the authority to set the date for elections. In a 14-page petition, the electoral authority cited various legalities and reasons behind its statement. It argued that the Supreme Court disregarded its constitutional jurisdiction and assumed upon itself the role of a public body in giving a date.

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The ECP emphasized that intervention by the court was necessitated to correct an error that had effectively changed the settled constitutional jurisprudence of the country. It requested the court to review its decision and argued that the power to set the date for elections lies elsewhere under the Constitution, but not in a court of law.

The three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, will hear the ECP’s petition on Monday. The court’s decision will have a significant impact on the upcoming elections in Punjab, which is a critical province for Pakistan’s politics and economy.

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