ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court (SC) returned Thursday Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) plea that general elections be held within 90 days.
The Supreme Court raised objections to PTI’s request saying the plaintiff did not first approach the relevant forum before filing the plea in the apex court.
The top court said that the plea lacks an explanation of how the election delay affects the petitioner’s fundamental rights.
The Registrar’s office of the Supreme Court further objected that the President of Pakistan cannot be designated a respondent to the petition under Article 248 of the Constitution.
Senior attorney Ali Zafar on behalf of PTI filed a petition asking for elections to be held within 90 days and for the Council of Common Interests’ ruling to be overturned.
On August 28, Senior lawyer Senator Ali Zafar on the behalf of PTI had knocked at the top court doors seeking the Supreme Court order to conduct elections within 90 days and overturned the decision of the Council of Common Interests.
In their plea, PTI had asked the apex court to instruct the president to announce the election date within a 90-day timeframe. They also requested that the Supreme Court direct the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to establish the schedule for the upcoming general elections.
The plea additionally urged the top court to invalidate the Council of Common Interests (CCI) decision regarding the delimitation process and the 2023 census.
It’s noteworthy that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had previously decided to conduct general elections in the second week of February 2024 after completing the delimitation process.
