The Supreme Court of Pakistan is holding a hearing today (Monday) regarding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) plea about the date for the general elections in the provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A five-member larger bench, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, is hearing the plea. The other bench members include Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan, and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.
The PTI decided to move the Supreme Court after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) postponed the Punjab elections from April 30 to October 8 due to the financial and security authorities expressing their inability to support the electoral process.
Following the Supreme Court’s split ruling last month, President Arif Alvi had announced the date for the Punjab elections after consulting with the ECP.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Haji Ghulam Ali also urged the ECP to hold the general elections on the same date as the Punjab elections, October 8, due to the growing security threats from terror groups operating from the Pakistan-Afghanistan border regions.
At the start of the hearing, PTI’s lawyer Barrister Ali Zafar claimed that contempt of court has been committed three times.
The CJP asked when the election schedule was issued, to which the PTI’s counsel replied that the schedule was issued on March 8.
The counsel added that the ECP had no authority to give a date for the elections. Barrister Zafar also said that the KP governor failed to give a date for the polls in the province despite the Supreme Court’s orders. However, after consultation with the ECP, he added that the president gave April 30 as the poll date.
This news feed is developing; details are being added to this story.
