Supreme Court adjourns Punjab elections delay case till Wednesday

The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) on Tuesday adjourned the Punjab assembly election delay case till Wednesday while stating that the rights of millions of people in the country are linked to polls, according to Aaj News.

During the hearing of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) petition to revisit the April 4 SC ruling ordering holding of elections in May, SC Justice Munib Akhtar said that holding elections within 90 days of dissolution of assemblies “is in public interest”.

On April 4, the SC had ordered the government and the ECP to hold elections for Punjab assembly on May 14 but both institutions said this would not be possible due to shortage of resources, including funds and manpower.

The bench hearing the plea on Tuesday comprised of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Munib Akhtar.

Chief Justice Bandial said “I think the PTI has not submitted its response yet”.

ECP counsel Sajeel Shehryar Swati stated that ECP had yet not received the responses of PTI or any other political party.

After this, the case was adjourned till Wednesday.

April 4 verdict

On April 4, SC underlined that ECP’s decision to postpone polls in Punjab till October 8 was unconstitutional.

The court ruled that the Constitution and law did not allow the ECP to postpone the elections, ordering that the elections in Punjab be held on May 14 instead of April 30.

The apex court directed the caretaker government in Punjab to assist the ECP with elections next month and said the federal government has been asked to assist the commission, ordering authorities to release Rs21 billion to the ECP by April 10.

However, the government claimed that it lacked the funds and manpower in view of worsening security situation in the country. Subsequently, the ECP filed a petition earlier in May and urged SC to revisit its verdict.

The Punjab elections were not held on May 14.