A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Atta Bandial heard the review petition filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the decision of the Supreme Court to hold elections in Punjab. Started again. May 14.
Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan are also included in the bench hearing the petitions. This is the same bench which issued this directive on April 4.
Following the bench’s order, the election watchdog had informed the apex court that it could not conduct the elections due to security concerns and lack of funds.
He then filed a revision petition to set aside the court’s order. This time, the body argued its claim that deciding the date of elections is beyond the jurisdiction of the apex court.
In the hearing held yesterday, the bench had assured Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan and ECP Legal Adviser Sujeel Shehryar Swati that there was no intention to stop the government’s past actions against him. Is.
Chief Justice Bandyal had also criticized the ECP for not giving the president a proper assessment of the situation and said why the commission did not tell the president what he was telling the court now.
Petition
The election watchdog filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its order passed on April 4, which fixed May 14 as the date for holding elections in Punjab province.
It was said that under the constitution, the authority to announce the date of general elections is vested in other bodies other than a judicial body. Therefore, the revised decree “violates the vital principle of trichotomy of powers and is thus not sustainable”.
Elections – essentially a domain of the Election Commission under Article 218 (3) of the Constitution read with other provisions of the Constitution – are the sole responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan, the ECP claimed.
Besides, the ECP had taken a stand that the general elections of the National Assembly cannot be fair in the presence of an elected government in Punjab.
“There cannot be fair elections in the presence of an elected government in Punjab”, the revision petition said, adding that the voter/voter would vote in favor of the candidates of the political party which has an elected government in Punjab.
More to follow…