By Special Correspondent

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court, in a majority verdict, ruled on Wednesday that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly had been dissolved after the governor of the province signed the summary, while the Punjab Assembly got dissolved on its own after lapse of 48 hours as the governor did not sign the summary.

The top court ruled that the constitution gives powers to the governor on three conditions, under which he can dissolve the assembly under Article 112 or on the advice of the chief minister. Meanwhile, Article 222 says that the election was a subject for the Centre, it added.

The court further stated that the Election Act 2017 gives the governor and the president the power to announce a date for the polls. “If the governor has dissolved the assembly, then he would announce the date,” read the verdict. The court stressed that the governor had the constitutional responsibility of announcing the date.

Supreme court order copy

SC directions to president

The court directed President Arif Alvi to announce the date of the Punjab election after consulting with the Election Commission of Pakistan, and directed the KP governor to announce the date for polls in his province. For the ECP, the court ordered immediate advice to the president on the date of the election.

“The elections in all the provinces should be held within the constitutional period,” the court stated, directing all the federal and provincial bodies to assist the electoral body with the election process. Moreover, the SC directed the federal government to provide all facilities to the Election Commission of Pakistan for conducting the elections. Meanwhile, the apex court declared the pleas related to the provincial elections admissible and disposed them of.