The Lahore High Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Punjab governor to file replies by tomorrow (Friday) in response to a PTI petition seeking the announcement of a date for elections in the province.
The PTI on Jan 27 had approached the LHC, seeking it order the Punjab governor to immediately announce a date of an election in the province since the assembly had been dissolved. The ECP had recommended the elections be held between April 9 and 17.
The petition, filed through PTI General Secretary Asad Umar, stated that more than 10 days had passed since the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly the Punjab governor and the ECP to submit their replies to the court by Feb 10. At the outset of the hearing, Justice Hassan asked for reasons for the absence of the Punjab governor’s lawyer from the hearing.PML-N’s Rana Mashhood, who appeared on behalf of the governor’s lawyer Shehzad Shaukat, responded that the counsel was busy in the Supreme Court, hence he could not show up.
