Supreme Court Announces Verdict on KP and Punjab General Elections

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has ruled that elections for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab assemblies must be held within 90 days.

The verdict was announced by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial following a two-day hearing by a five-member bench.

In a three-two split decision, the bench granted relief to the petitioners while two members objected to the admissibility of the pleas.

Justices Jamal Mandokhail and Mansoor Ali Shah dissented from the majority verdict. The court stated that the Constitution mandates that elections be held within 60 to 90 days after the dissolution of assemblies.

The Chief Justice emphasized that the responsibility for fixing the election date lies with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and not political parties.

The case was brought to the attention of the apex court via suo moto notice on February 23, following President Arif Alvi’s announcement of the date of polls.

It is important to note that four judges had objected to the constitution of the bench and suo moto jurisdiction under Article 184(3) and wrote dissenting notes after the initial hearing on February 23.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, and Justice Athar Minallah dissociated themselves from the case.

The court’s decision comes after the dissolution of the KP and Punjab assemblies, with the KP Assembly being dissolved by the governor and the Punjab Assembly dissolving on its own after 48 hours, as the governor did not sign the summary.