Photo: File
ISLAMABAD: Supreme court has overruled ECP, sets May 14th as polling date in Punjab, three members larger bench announced reserved verdict.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has overruled the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision of postponing Punjab’s polls until the 8th of October and fixed May 14th as the polling date in the province.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial announced the verdict of the three-member bench which termed ECP’s decision of postponing elections as unconstitutional.
ECP had earlier (March 22nd) set October 8th as the date of the election in defiance of President Arif Alvi’s selected date of April 30th.
The Supreme Court in its decision also instructed the electoral body to reinstate its previous election schedule and extend it by 13 days to account for the missed time.
Under the issued guidelines the nomination papers will now be finalised by April 10 while the Election Commission will publish the list of candidates on April 19th before the electoral symbols are issued on April 20th.
