A plea was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging an amendment made in Section 57 of the Elections Commission Act, 2017 giving authority to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the announcement of the election date. The court was informed that the aforesaid amendment is ultra-vires Article 48, 58, 105, 107, 224 read with Articles 4 and 5 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, as a result of which, the amendment should be set aside and declared as unconstitutional.
It was further prayed to the court that as far as the mandate of the Constitution is concerned, the tenure of the National Assembly for a 5-year term needs to be completed and any early dissolution with the sole purpose of delaying the general elections for more than 60 to 90 days is ultra vires the Constitution. The petition was filed by Munir Ahmed through senior advocate Azhar Siddique and raised 13 law points including whether the provisions of the Election Act, 2017 could be relied upon to delay the general elections beyond the mandatory 90-day period. “Whether a harmonious interpretation of the Constitution would mean that the entire process of delimitation and notification of constituencies is to be carried out by ECP within a period of 36 days from the date of dissolution of Assemblies to comply with the 90-day mandatory period provided under Article 224(2),” the petitioner’s counsel inquired.
“Whether the statutory time limits under the Act can override the constitutional time limit of 90 days stipulated in Article 224(2) of the Constitution,” he asked further. “Whether the Constitution grants ECP an exclusive authority and responsibility to announce the election dates, or does it require consultation with the President or any other authority”.
It was contended in the petition that Article 224 (2) of the Constitution commands absolute fidelity. Therefore, once the National Assembly and the Provincial Assemblies are dissolved, elections must be conducted within 90 days.
