The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday reserved its decision on a plea filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seeking direction to the Punjab governor for immediately announcing the date of elections in the province
LHC judge Justice Jawad Hassan reserved the decision after hearing detailed arguments from each side
As the proceedings commenced, the chief secretary and Inspector General Police (IGP) Punjab Usman Anwar appeared before the court
Justice Jawad asked the IGP about his take regarding the elections, to which he replied that he was unaware of the case, and added that the police department had sent its proposals to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)
“We will comply with the ECP’s directions and decisions regarding the elections,” the IGP ensured the court
The electoral watchdog’s counsel raised objections over the maintainability of the petition and argued that neither the federal government nor the president were made respondents in the petition
He added that it was the federal government that granted funds for elections
He contended that concerned departments including the judiciary excused to provide the staff
He questioned how it would be possible for the ECP to hold elections in such circumstances and argued that there was no law that could establish responsibility on ECP for giving the election date
He maintained that ECP should not be made respondent in such cases as its obligation was to hold fair and free elections rather than giving date election dates
The lawyer further argued that the ECP did not have sufficient funds for the election
Advocate Shehzad Shaukat representing the Punjab governor informed the court that the federation was not made respondent in the PTI petition
He emphasised that the provision of the election date will be binding on the governor if he dissolved the assembly and signed the summary, however, in Punjab, the governor had not signed the summary and therefore could not announce election dates
Shaukat questioned how the governor could announce the dates in the presence of a caretaker government
He furthered that the governor had no powers to appoint a caretaker chief minister or his cabinet and again asked how could he announce a date for the elections
Advocate Azhar Siddique, representing another petitioner, argued that Article 105 was very clear and that the matter should not be dragged towards the era of Zia ul Haq
Citing the case of Hamza Shehbaz, he argued that the LHC had first directed the governor and then the president of Pakistan
Read Sheikh Rashid moves LHC against Naqvi's appointment PTI lawyer barrister Ali Zafar argued that the ECP, chief secretary and IGP were on the same page and added that they were ready for holding elections or assisting ECP respectively in elections
He maintained that the Constitution was very clear about holding elections within ninety days after the dissolution of the assembly and that the only issue was regarding who would announce the election date
He stated that if the governor was not willing to announce the date then it could be announced by the president
In previous proceedings, Additional Attorney General Nasar Ahmad had said that the government did not have enough money to hold elections
To this, barrister Zafar expressed shock and argued that it was a strange statement and requested the court to record it
Nasar retracted the statement and said he was just quoting an example, not giving a statement on someone’s behalf
Barrister Zafar argued that after the dissolution of the assembly, a caretaker government was formed while the Constitution said the governor would announce the date for elections before forming a caretaker government
He argued that when the governor was asked to announce the election date, he said the assembly had not been dissolved, yet quickly fulfilled his role when assigning a caretaker government
Advocate Azhar implored the court that Article 105-A of the Constitution said the governor would announce the date for elections before forming a caretaker government if he dissolves the government
But in this case, the governor did not act upon section A of this Article which had bound him to announce the date of the elections
A day earlier, the LHC sought a reply from Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman by February 9 on the announcement of the election date after the lawyer representing him sought time from the judge, arguing that his side had some objections over the demand for polls after the dissolution of the provincial assembly
Justice Jawad Hassan heard a plea filed by PTI Secretary General Asad Umar seeking direction to the Punjab governor to immediately announce the date of elections in the province to ensure polls within 90 days of the dissolution of the provincial legislature
Separately, LHC's Justice Shahid Karim issued notices and sought replies from the federal government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on a plea challenging the appointment of caretaker chief minister of Punjab, Mohsin Raza Naqvi
| Date: | 11-Feb-2023 | Reference: | View Original Link |
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