ISLAMABAD, Aug 31 (APP): The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday dismissed a review petition of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the verdict for holding elections within 90 days of the .
dissolution of Punjab Assembly.
The three-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar announced the verdict after hearing arguments from the respondents.
During the course of proceedings, the CJP said that the top court would act whenever the constitution was violated. The review appeal could not be accepted in current circumstances and therefore, it was being terminated, he said.
The chief justice observed that previously, the ECP was of the view that it could hold elections if funds and security were provided, but now it was saying that the polls were not possible due to some certain reasons.
Justice Munib Akhter remarked that the top court had proposed a solution to the ECP in the verdict that could file a constitutional petition if it could not hold elections in said time period.
The ECP had no authority to take the election schedule beyond the time limit of 90 days as it was its mandate, he added.
Justice Munib said that no one could violate the Constitution, and the institution concerned should approach the court if there were any difficulty in implementation of it.
Giving arguments, the ECP’s lawyer Sajeel Swati said that he wanted to submit more relevant documents in light of the court’s order. The Commission had been empowered to fix a date for the general elections after amendments in sections 57 and 58, he said and prayed the court to grant one-week time for case preparation.
The lawyer said that the Constitution entrusted the responsibility to the ECP to holding fair elections in the country. The elections were not possible due to the incident of May 9, he added.
Justice Ahsan said that the Constitution did not permit the electoral body to extend the date for the elections.
It may be mentioned that the top court had ordered the ECP on April 4, to conduct elections on May 14, in Punjab and the Commission filed a review petition against the judgment.
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