ISLAMABAD – Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday took suo moto notice of delay in elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The country’s top judge took notice of the issue on the recommendation of a bench and formed a larger nine-member bench which will take up the matter tomorrow on Thursday.
Spearheaded by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial himself, the bench will comprise Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, Justice Jamal Mandokhel, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah.
The country’s top court raised three questions which cited “Whose responsibility it is to announce a date for elections when a provincial assembly is devolved”.
When and how is the constitutional authority to be used to announce a date for elections, the court mentioned as the second question.
The third question reads “What is the responsibility regarding general elections in the federation and the provinces”.
The matter landed in the country’s apex court after being a bone of contention between opposition and ruling alliance members. In recent developments, Governors in two provinces refrained to announce the date for elections while the country’s top electoral watchdog also turned down Alvi’s request for a meeting.
President, using his constitutional right, earlier announced April 9 as the date for holding the general elections in two local legislatures; ECP initially called it unconstitutional.
This is a developing story and will be updated later…
