Pakistan Supreme Court dismisses election panel’s plea seeking review of Punjab polls order
Aug 31, 2023
Islamabad [Pakistan], August 31 : The Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the election commission's plea asking the top court to revisit its order of holding elections to the Punjab Assembly on May 14, Dawn reported.
Dawn is an English daily published in Pakistan.
Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, said during the hearing: “The court will intervene whenever the Constitution is violated.”
The bench, in a unanimous judgment on April 4, quashed the electoral body’s decision to extend the date for polls in the province from April 10 to October 8 and fixed May 14 as the new date.
It had also directed the government to release Rs 21 billion for the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and provide a security plan to the ECP regarding the polls. Moreover, the court had instructed relevant authorities to keep it in the loop, as per Dawn.
Reports submitted to the apex court in subsequent days said the then-ruling coalition was reluctant to release the funds.
It had contended that staggering polls by holding them in Punjab and KP separately, before elsewhere, was not feasible since it would incur significantly more expenses compared to holding the exercise on one day. It had further said that an already depleted security apparatus would require weeks in advance for its mobilization, according to Dawn.
On May 3, with fewer than two weeks to the May 14 election date ordered by the court, the election commission filed its plea seeking a review of the court’s April 4 order.
Further, according to Dawn, in June, the former government had successfully managed to pass bills amending the Elections Act 2017. Under the changes to the election laws, the chief election commission has been empowered to fix the date for polls without input from the President.
A three-member SC bench comprising CJP Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar on Thursday resumed hearing the case, which was in June clubbed with the Supreme Court (Review of Judgments and Orders) Act 2023.
The law was struck down by the apex court on August 11.
