ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has fixed for May 15 the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) appeal asking the apex court to revisit its order of conducting elections to the provincial assembly of Punjab on May 14, local media reported on Friday.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justices Munib Akhtar and Justice Ijazul Ahsan will take up the case next week. This bench had also issued the order for polls in Punjab.
On April 4, the bench had quashed the ECP’s verdict to extend the date for the elections in Punjab from April 10 to October 8 and fixed May 14 as the new date for the elections.
The SC bench had also ordered the government to release 21 billion rupees for the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces and also provide a security plan to the Election Commission of Pakistan about the polls. Furthermore, the apex court had also instructed relevant officials to keep it in the loop.
Election Commission of Pakistan’s Petition
In its plea, the electoral body said changing the election programme was the domain of the ECP as per section 58 of the Elections Act 2017. It may be recalled that PTI had dissolved the provincial assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and demanded the government to hold elections in the provinces.
