LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday mounted February 27 for listening to two intra-court appeals in opposition to orders issued to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce elections in Punjab after session with the governor.
A division bench headed by Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal was listening to petitions filed by the ECP and Governor Balighur Rehman.
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Since the dissolution of the provincial meeting, doubts over the election date announcement have continued because the governor has so far failed to announce an election date.
After the matter was introduced earlier than the LHC via a petition by citizen Munir Ahmed, Justice Jawad Hassan ordered the electoral regulatory physique to maintain consultations with the governor and announce polls instantly.
Though a gathering was held between the ECP and the governor, the 2 had concurrently opted to problem the unprecedented court docket orders.
Meanwhile, eyebrows had additionally been raised over the orders on the apex court docket.
As proceedings commenced at this time, Justice Iqbal requested if there’s any provision for the ECP to maintain a session with the governor.
Advocate General Punjab (AGP) Shan Gull and ECP’s counsel advocate Shahzada Mazhar knowledgeable that there was none.
Deputy AG Asad Ali Bajwa then sought a while from the court docket to get additional directions from the involved authorities. AGP Gull additionally adopted swimsuit and requested the court docket for extra time.
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Meanwhile, Munir Ahmed’s counsel Azhar Siddique argued that the federal authorities, the ECP and the governor weren’t critical about saying the election date, claiming they have been “making an attempt to run away from polls” and violating the structure.
Advocate Siddique implored the court docket that President Arif Alvi has already introduced the date for the elections to which the AGP regretted that “it was not the president’s job to do that”.
After listening to the arguments, the decide granted the ECP and federal authorities’s attorneys’ requests and adjourned the listening to till February 27.