SC orders LB polls in Punjab, Sindh on Sept 20

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure the holding of local bodies (LB) elections in the Punjab and Sindh on September 20 and Islamabad on July 25 this year with a warning that strict consequences will follow if the ECP failed to fulfil its constitutional obligation.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Jawad S Khawaja, while hearing the LB elections case, directed the ECP to meet its constitutional obligation in letter and spirit.Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt appeared before the court and submitted the final schedule for holding the LB polls in Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, cantonment boards and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
As per the schedule, the local government elections will take place in Sindh and the Punjab on September 20, Islamabad on July 25, KP on May 30 and cantonment boards on April 25 this year.
After the Election Commission submitted the schedule for the elections, the court directed it to file an implementation report in the chamber, adhering to the separate schedules with a loud and clear warning that if the given schedule was not implemented in letter and spirit, strict consequences will follow.
Justice Jawad, during the hearing, observed that the Election Commission is a sovereign institution and the Constitution has empowered it to hold the local bodies elections in the provinces, empowering the people to elect their representatives.
The Election Commission also submitted a report, explaining as to why elections in the cantonment boards were not held for the last 17 years as well as in the provinces for the last five years.
During the course of hearing, an attempt by the Punjab government to win some more time for holding the LB elections in the province was frustrated by Justice Jawad. “Do not make a mockery of the Constitution,” he remarked. Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing for date-in-office.