Pak SC to announce verdict on delay in Punjab polls today

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 4 (ANI): Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) is set to announce the verdict on the delay in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa elections, today, Geo News reported.

The top court, which began hearing arguments on PTI’s appeal on March 27, reserved the decision and said that it will be made public the following day, April 4.
The top court has so far convened six hearings over the course of more than eight days, during which the parties involved made their cases.

The case’s hearing which lasted over a week witnessed high drama after two judges of the original five-member bench, Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Aminuddin Khan, recused themselves from hearing the case. Thereafter, the CJP constituted a bench comprising himself, Justice Ahsan and Justice Akhtar to proceed with the PTI petition.

The apex court had in a 3-2 verdict, ruled on March 1 that elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, both of which have been under caretaker governments since the provincial assemblies were dissolved in January, should be held within 90 days.

The government, however, had disputed with the court directions, calling the verdict 4-3 instead after Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who were among the four judges who had written additional notes in the Feb 23 order, raised objections on the constitution of the bench as well as the invocation of the apex court’s suo motu jurisdiction by the chief justice, according to Dawn.

The CJP, however, rejected the government’s request for a full court and instead suggested that a larger bench could be sought.

The Election Commission of Pakistan recently postponed the Punjab by-elections till October 8. The elections were earlier scheduled to be held on April 30, Pakistan-based ARY News reported.

According to details, the ECP withdrew the Punjab Election Program notification issued on March 8 and decided to postpone the Punjab election and announced October 8 as the new date for elections in Punjab, as per ARY News.

According to ECP spokesman, President Arif Alvi has also been informed about the postponement of elections in Punjab, adding that the new election schedule will be released soon. The spokesperson added that the elections were postponed under Article 218(3) and Sections 58 and 8C of the Election Act, 2017.