ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Wednesday moved the top court to review its directives to hold elections for the Punjab Assembly on May 14, urging judiciary can’t fix election date.
In a 14-page petition, the electoral body said that Supreme Court should review its decision as the judiciary “doesn’t have the authority to give the date of elections.” The petition was filed hours after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) said that it would submit a detailed report of the talks held between the party leaders and the ruling alliance, urging the apex court to implement its verdict in the Punjab polls case.
“[…] it is most respectfully prayed that this August Court may graciously accept the instant Review Petition by revisiting, reviewing, reconsidering and recalling its Impunged Order/Judgment dated 04.04.2023, in the interest of justice and equity,” the petition read.
The ECP noted that superior courts of the country have been granted a special power under Article 199 and Article 184(3) of the Constitution to judicially review actions/decisions of the public bodies. “The superior courts can define the contours within which the power (which vests in the public bodies) is or is to be exercised. At no instance, can the superior courts take upon themselves the role of the public body,” the petition read.
The electoral body reiterated that notifying a date for the elections is “not the mandate of superior courts under the Constitution.” “Such powers exist elsewhere under the Constitution but certainly not lie in a Court of law,” the ECP said, citing various reasons behind its statement.
The ECP accused the Supreme Court of disregarding its constitutional jurisdiction, emphasising that it assumed upon itself the role of a public body in giving a date; “thus intervention by the Court is necessitated to correct an error which has effectively changed the settled constitutional jurisprudence of the country.”
The two vital state organs, the executive and the judiciary, seem to be on a collision course as the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government demonstrated its disdain over April 4 apex court’s ruling, nullifying the ECP’s decision to delay elections in Punjab till October 8 this year after initially announcing it to hold on April 30.
A three-judge SC bench, comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, announced the verdict on the PTI’s petition challenging the ECP’s move to postpone the Punjab Assembly polls till October. The chief justice announced that the election in Punjab would be held on May 14 as the SC declared the ECP’s decision “unconstitutional”.
