Lahore: (Staff Reporter) A contempt of court plea has been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for not announcing date of elections in the province.
According to the source, the plea states that the court had ordered to announce the schedule for polls by Sunday; however, the electoral watchdog as well as the governor failed to comply with the court order. The plaintiff argues that it is necessary to hold polls within 90 days of the assembly’s dissolution as per the constitution and that a constitutional crisis could emerge if date for Punjab polls was not announced.
As per details the LHC on Friday had ordered the electoral watchdog to hold elections in the province in 90 days. The LHC Justice, Jawad Hassan pronounced the reserved verdict on plea filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seeking orders for the Punjab governor to immediately announce a date for an election in the province.
Furthermore the court also instructed the ECP to promptly declare the date for the election of the provincial assembly with the notification that specifies the reasons behind the decision after consulting with the governor of Punjab, who is the province’s constitutional head.
Moreover the Punjab assembly was dissolved on January 14, 48 hours after Chief Minister Parvez Elahi advised Punjab Governor Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman to dissolve provincial assembly. Punjab Governor Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman said that the dissolution of Punjab Assembly was an important responsibility and he did not want this to be done in haste.
