Election date order: LHC division bench to hear ECP’s ICA tomorrow

LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench will hear on Monday (tomorrow) an intra-court appeal (ICA) by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the decision of a single bench wherein it had been ordered to immediately announce a date for the general election in Punjab.

The bench comprises Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal and Justice Muzamil Akhtar Shabbir.

The same bench already issued notices on an appeal filed by Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman against the single bench’s order.

The ECP’s appeal filed through Advocate Shahzada Mazhar contends that the single bench had failed to consider that constitutional provisions and the Elections Act 2017 do not in any manner place any responsibility on the appellant (ECP) for the pronouncement of the date of the election.

It pleads that the single bench wrongly concluded that the governor is not empowered to announce a date for the election when he (governor) does not dissolve the assembly.

The ECP asks the court to set aside the impugned judgment of the single bench as the law does not empower it to announce a date for the election.

The single bench comprising Justice Jawad Hassan had on Feb 10 ordered the ECP to immediately announce the date of elections to the Punjab Assembly after consultation with the governor, in his capacity as the constitutional head of the province, to ensure that polls were held not later than 90 days as per the mandate of the Constitution.

The judge had allowed petitions of the PTI and Munir Ahmad seeking directions for the governor and the ECP to immediately announce a date for general elections in the province, since the assembly had been dissolved.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2023