The top court orders the government to hold snap polls in the populous Punjab province on May 14.
By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s powerful Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered provincial polls in Punjab and KPK to go ahead as planned, saying the election watchdog’s decision to postpone elections till October 8 was unconstitutional.
The apex court ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to hold Punjab polls on May 14, saying as per mandated by the Constitution elections should be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the assembly.
A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial announced the verdict in the petition filed by former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf party.
“The law and Constitution do not give ECP the authority to delay the elections,” the top court observed.
PTI challenged the ECP’s decision to postpone polls in the Punjab Assembly initially scheduled for April 30.
The court maintained that 13 days were wasted because of the ECP’s “unlawful decision” and directed the caretaker government in Punjab to assist the commission.
On March 22, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) delayed assembly polls in the politically crucial Punjab province by more than five months, citing the deteriorating security situation and financial constraints.
Provincial assemblies in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces were dissolved in January by Khan and his allies in a bid to force early general elections.
The issue of the election has taken center stage in recent weeks as Khan has been pushing for timely elections in Punjab and KP provinces. However, the government has been trying to delay the provincial polls with the plea that elections should be held after August 2023 when the term of the current House comes to an end. Pakistan historically holds the provincial and national elections together.
The coalition government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over the weekend said it would reject the ruling of a three-member Supreme Court and hinted at a possible reference against Chief Justice Bandial and two other members of the bench.
The government had demanded a full bench with all the Supreme Court judges on it to hear the matter, but the top court rejected the request on Monday.
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