The Supreme Court (SC) Adjourns Hearing On ECP's Plea Seeking Review Of Punjab Elections

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) plea asking the top court to revisit its April 4 order of holding elections to the Punjab Assembly on May 14 till Wednesday (May 24)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd May, 2023 ) :The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) plea asking the top court to revisit its April 4 order of holding elections to the Punjab Assembly on May 14 till Wednesday (May 24).

A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar heard the case.

During the course of proceedings, Advocate Sajeel Swati counsel for ECP said that the Federal and Punjab governments had submitted their responses in the case.

The chief justice said that the PTI had not submitted its response yet.

The counsel replied that the electoral watchdog had not received the replies of any political party.

He pleaded the court to grant time to review all the responses.

The chief justice asked the ECP counsel to submit his arguments in the case.

The counsel said that the jurisdiction of ECP's review petition was not limited to constitutional cases.

Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan said that approaching courts for fundamental rights was regarded as a civilian case.

Advocate Swati said that the proceedings under Article 184(3) were not civil in nature.

Justice Ijaz said that one section of Article 184(3) fell under public interest and the other pertained to fundamental rights.

The counsel said that Article 184(3) did not give the right to appeal.

The court had to take into account the requirements of justice in the review, he added.

Justice Akhtar asked whether he was arguing that a review under 184(3) should be heard as an appeal? The lawyer replied in the affirmative.

Justice Ijaz said that if the ECP lawyer's argument was accepted, a hearing would have to be immediately conducted in the matter of review.

The constitution did not stated that the scope of the right to appeal and review was same, he added.

Justice Munib said that accepting the ECP's request would increase complications.

The counsel said that the constitution did not limit the scope either.

The court could also use Article 187 of the constitution for absolute justice in reviews, he added.

The chief justice said that Article 184(3) of the constitution did not give the right to appeal.

There should be clarity regarding the scope in the constitution, he added.

The ECP lawyer requested the court to issue a detailed order, saying that it would make things easier.