ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the request of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to review the decision of the Supreme Court regarding the holding of the Punjab Assembly elections on May 14.
Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial remarked during the hearing of the case that the court will intervene whenever the constitution is violated.
In April this year, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Bandyal, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar declared illegal the ECP’s decision to hold elections on October 8 instead of April 30. was ordered. Elections will be held in Punjab on May 14.
However, the commission filed a petition to the Supreme Court to review its order after the May 14 deadline set by the Supreme Court expired.
In a 14-page petition, the Election Organizing Authority said the Supreme Court should review its decision as the judiciary “does not have the power to give dates for elections”.
“Such powers exist elsewhere under the Constitution but certainly do not lie in court,” the ECP said, citing various legal positions and reasons behind its statement.
The electoral body accused the apex court of ignoring its constitutional jurisdiction, asserting that it had assumed the role of a public body in giving history. “Thus the court’s intervention is required to correct a mistake which has effectively changed the settled constitutional principle of the country”.
In a bid to ensure elections on the scheduled date, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court on April 14 ordered the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to allocate and release Rs 21 billion to the ECP from its funds.
On April 18, the ECP told the Supreme Court that it has yet to receive the Rs 21 billion required to hold the Punjab Assembly elections on May 14.
Chief Justice Bandyal had remarked on April 20 that if all political parties reach a consensus, the Supreme Court can make some room and change the date of elections. Later, the Supreme Court clarified that the talks between the ruling Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were initiated voluntarily to end the political deadlock over the timeframe of the general elections and that The Supreme Court had decided. No instructions have been issued in this regard.
In a three-page judgment in the April 27 proceedings of the Punjab election delay case, the Supreme Court said its April 4 order directing the ECP to hold elections in Punjab on May 14, “without Nothing has changed.”
However, despite several rounds of talks, the two sides could not reach a consensus on the issue and on 3 May, the PTI submitted a report to the Supreme Court about the negotiations with the then PDM-led government. , requesting the Supreme Court to ensure its implementation. Its April 4 decision regarding the holding of Punjab Assembly elections on May 14.
It should be noted that the Punjab Assembly was dissolved in January this year on the directives of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to force the previous government at the Center to hold snap polls.
