SC to resume hearing polls case today

The Supreme Court will resume hearing today (Monday) the case on the delay in holding elections for the Punjab Assembly as the May 14 deadline set by the apex court for holding the polls expires.

A three-judge bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, will take up the case at 12:30 pm. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has already filed a petition requesting the bench to revisit its April 4 order.

While hearing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s plea against the ECP’s decision to postpone polls in the country’s largest province — earlier set to be held in April — the bench on April 4 had ordered the polls supervisory authority to hold elections for the Punjab provincial assembly on May 14.

Read more: PTI to hit the streets if polls delayed: Imran

The National Assembly had, however, passed a resolution against the apex court bench and later rejected a government bill seeking funds for holding polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) provinces, whose provincial legislatures were dissolved in mid-January.

In its petition, the ECP has contended that the apex court under the Constitution and law cannot issue a date for holding polls.

Interestingly, some parties in the ruling coalition, led by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), have announced staging a sit-in in front of the SC building today against the alleged partiality of the top court.