LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday served notices to PTI and others over an intra-court appeal of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), ARY News reported.
A division bench comprises of Justice Chaudhry Iqbal and Justice Muzammil Akhtar Shabbir heard the case and issued notice to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for tomorrow.
The ECP has challenged the LHC verdict in which the court has ordered the ECP for holding elections within 90 days.
The PTI and the Punjab governor were made parties in the intra-court appeal.
The appeal stated that the single bench had not properly analysed the facts and ECP is not authorised to announce the election date in accordance with the law.
It added that seeking the election date from the commission is against the Election Act and the Constitution.
The ECP stated that it has the administrative responsibility to organise polls and the governor is authorised to unveil the election date. The commission pleaded with the court to nullify the single bench’s verdict and suspend the order till the conclusion of the hearing.
On February 10, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold by-polls in Punjab within three months.
The LHC’s Justice Jawad Hassan announced the verdict on the PTI petition seeking the court orders for Punjab by-polls.
In a 16-page verdict, the high court ordered the election commission for organising by-polls in Punjab within 90 days.
The LHC directed the electoral watchdog to issue the election schedule in accordance with the Constitution. It further stated that the elections should be conducted within 90 days after the dissolution of the assembly in accordance with the Constitution.
However, it is not clear in the law who will announce the date of elections in case of dissolution of assemblies, it added.
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