Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to President of Pakistan, Governors of Punjab and KP, ECP, AGP and others in suo moto case pertaining to election date for the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.
A 9-member larger bench of the top court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Minallah, Justice Shah and CJP Bandial, the bench includes Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar heard the case.
At the outset of the today hearing, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court (SC) raised questions on the dissolution of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.
The court observed that the authority for giving the date of the elections after the dissolution of the assembly needs clarification.
On Wednesday, CJP Umar Ata Bandial took a suo moto notice over the delay in the election of two provincial assemblies of Punjab and KP.
The development comes two days after President Dr Arif Alvi fixed April 9 as the date for elections to the provincial assemblies — a move condemned by the government as “unconstitutional and illegal”.
As per the the apex court’s statement, the bench will assess who is eligible to issue the date for polls, the constitutional responsibility of the federation and provinces, and who will fulfil the constitutional responsibility of conducting elections and when.
The SC statement said that it is the government’s responsibility to conduct elections in Punjab and KP according to the Constitution.
The statement added that the two provincial assemblies were dissolved on January 14 and 18, respectively.
