The Supreme Court has ordered the Election Commission to hold elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 90 days.
The verdict was split 3-2, with Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Jamal Khan Mandokhail dissenting from the majority verdict. The ruling was backed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Munib Akhtar, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.
Concerning its suo motu notice regarding the delay in announcing the poll date for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Supreme Court ruled that the President can announce a poll date if the governor chooses not to dissolve the assembly.
The larger bench declared that the President’s vote date of April 9 for elections in Punjab will be effective, while the apex court overturned the President’s vote date in KP.
The court also ruled that if elections cannot be held on April 9 in Punjab, the ECP can set a new date for voting in urgent consultation with the president and governor.
The court stated that the KP governor violated his constitutional duty by failing to announce the election date. The governor of the KP must have announced an election date after dissolving the assembly, according to the court.
According to the Supreme Court, the ECP is required to consult with the governor and the president.
The apex court directed all the stakeholders including the federal government to assist the ECP in holding the elections.
Pronouncing its judgment reserved a day earlier, the five-judge larger bench of the apex court through a split verdict of 3-2 declared that holding elections within 90 days is mandatory in accordance with the Constitution.
The verdict was announced by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan did not agree with the verdict.
The verdict was reserved yesterday after the day-long hearing of the suo motu proceedings of the case which ended at 5:15 pm on Tuesday.
The verdict states that Justice Shah and Justice Mandokhail raised concerns about the maintainability of the suo motu proceedings and submitted dissenting notes.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar made up the larger five-member bench that was presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan Bandial.
CJP Bandial advised the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and the PDM government to meet and set a date for elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab by 4 p.m. during yesterday’s hearing.
The top judge remarked: “It is compulsory to hold elections. Our priority is to follow the constitution. The hurdles can be removed after the announcement of the election date. If there is any big issue, then parties can resort to the court.”
The CJP went on to say: “No constitutional institution could extend its tenure. Apart from the court, no one could be allowed to extend the (90-day) election period. The court could issue the order after taking into account solid reasons. Article 254 obscures the matter of poll delay but it does not issue a license to delay the polls beyond 90 days. If elections were not held on time, then stability will not be returned. Nobody is questioning the sincerity of the government. Today, we have to look into the matter regarding the announcement of the date for the elections. If the poll date extends 90-day period, this could be challenged by someone in a court of law.”
