Pakistan SC Dismisses Election Panel’s Plea Seeking Review Of Punjab Polls Order

The Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the election commission’s plea asking the top court to revisit its order to hold Punjab Assembly elections on May 14.

Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, stated during the hearing, “Whenever there will be a violation of the Constitution, the court will intervene.”

On April 4, the Bench overturned a unanimous verdict that extended the election date from April 10 – October 8, and set a new date of May 14.

Also, the Court directed the government to release 21 billion rupees for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to provide security to the Election Commission in relation to the elections.

Later, the reports presented to the Supreme Court stating that, the incumbent coalition was reluctant to release the funds.
The Court indicated that substantial time would be needed to activate the already weak security apparatus.

On May 3, while there was little time left before the May 14 election date set by the Court, the Election Commission filed a petition for review of the Court’s April 4 order.

Previously, in June, the government succeeded in passing amendments to the Election Act 2017. Under the changes to electoral laws, the Chief Election Commission is now empowered to fix the election date without the President’s input.
The 3-member SC bench, comprising Justice Ejazul Ahsan, Justice Muneb Akhtar, and Chief Justice Bandial, resumed hearing the case on Thursday, which was consolidated with the Supreme Court (Review and Orders) Ordinance 2023 in June.

The top court had struck down this law on August 11.