ECP files intra-court appeal in LHC

Challenges single bench order regarding immediate announcement of Punjab Assembly’s election date

LAHORE:

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday filed an intra-court appeal in the Lahore High Court challenging the single bench order regarding immediate announcement of the Punjab Assembly’s election date.

It made the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman respondents.

The commission in the appeal stated that the single judge had failed to consider the provisions of the Constitution and the Election Act, 2017 regarding the role of the appellant in announcement of the election date.

It argued that legally, the commission was not bound to announce election date, adding that doing so would be a violation of the Constitution and the Election Act, 2017.

The commission prayed the court to allow the appeal and declare the Feb 10 judgment null and void.

Justice Jawad Hassan of the LHC had ordered the ECP to immediately announce the date for elections of 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.