On Thursday, the Supreme Court (SC) threw out the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) petition to review the decision to hold elections in Punjab on May 14.
“The court will intervene whenever there is a Constitutional violation,” Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said.

In April this year, a three-member bench of the top court headed by CJP Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar declared the ECP’s decision to hold polls on October 8 instead of April 30 “illegal” and ordered the electoral watchdog to hold votes in Punjab on May 14.
However, the Commission filed a plea requesting the SC to revisit its order upon the top court’s expiration of the May 14 deadline.
In a 14-page petition, the top election organising authority said that the apex court should review its decision as the judiciary “doesn’t have the authority to give the date of elections”.
“Such powers exist elsewhere under the Constitution but certainly not lie in a Court of law,” the ECP had said, citing various legalities and reasons behind its statement.