The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday dismissed the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) asking the top court to revisit its order of holding elections to the Punjab Assembly on May 14. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the case. In a unanimous judgment on April 4, the bench had quashed the electoral body’s decision to extend the date for polls in the province from April 10 to Oct 8 and fixed May 14 as the new date. It had earlier directed the government to release Rs21 billion for the elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and provide a security plan to the ECP regarding the polls. Moreover, the court had instructed relevant authorities to keep it in the loop. However, in reports submitted to the apex court in subsequent days, the ECP had said the then ruling coalition was reluctant in releasing the funds.

It had contended that staggering polls by holding them in Punjab and KP separately, before elsewhere, was not feasible since it would incur significantly more expenses compared to holding the exercise on one day. It had further said that an already depleted security apparatus would require weeks in advance for its mobilisation. On May 3, with fewer than two weeks to the May 14 election date ordered by the court, the election commission had filed its plea seeking a review of the court’s April 4 order. The court will intervene whenever there is a Constitutional violation," Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked during the hearing of the case.

At the outset of the hearing, the ECP lawyer sought one more week for preparation. However, the CJP asked the lawyer to inform the court of his stance, saying that the bench would review the case. The lawyer responded that he required time to prepare additional grounds in the case. He said that the most important question was regarding the power to give a date for elections. After amendments to Section 57 and 58 of the Elections Act 2017, the power now rests with the ECP, the lawyer argued.

“Vakil sahib, keep in mind this is a review (plea),” Justice Akhtar remarked. “Don’t raise points that were not raised in the original case,” he said. The ECP lawyer then said he wished to highlight the Workers Party case, to which Justice Akhtar said that the court had given its opinion in this regard. “Tell us from the record about mistakes in the order for which a review is required,” the judge told the ECP lawyer.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)