ECP move to give polls date challenged in SC

The Judicial Activism Panel on Thursday filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court’s Lahore registry, challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s move to announce the date of general elections.

The JAP made the federal government, ECP, and others respondents in the petition.

The petition stated that according to the Constitution, the president of Pakistan had the authority to give the date of the election.

After the amendment in Section 57, the commission had been empowered to announce the date or dates for the general elections.

The JAP stated that amending Section 57 of the Elections Act was inconsistent with articles 48, 58 and 107, pleading the court to declare the amendment to the Elections Act unconstitutional.

“According to the Constitution, the term of the assembly is five years,” the JAP stated, adding that the move to dissolve the assembly before the term with the intention of delaying the election should also be declared unconstitutional.