LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday advised a petitioner not to lose patience and wait for 90 days for the implementation of an order to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to announce a date for the general election in Punjab.

“Let the timeline of 90 days passed and have some patience. I am sitting right here,” Justice Jawad Hassan asked Advocate Azhar Siddique, who sought a direction to President Arif Alvi to announce the date for the election in the province.

The lawyer on behalf of his petitioner said the court had on Feb 10 directed the ECP and the governor to immediately announce the date for the election after a consultation. However, he said, the order had not been complied with by the respondents. Therefore, he said, the court should pass a direction to the president to allot a date for the general election.

Justice Hassan observed that nothing happened yet and there was no issue to be worried about. He made it clear to the lawyer that the court knew better how to get its orders implemented.

He noted that the ECP had been holding meetings on the issue of the election date.

“We should not go for confrontation. Being a constitutional office, the governor should be respected,” the judge reminded the petitioner.

The counsel sought permission to withdraw the petition, which was granted by the judge.

CONTEMPT: Hearing of a petition seeking contempt proceedings against the Punjab governor and the chief election commissioner (CEC) for not announcing the date for the general election in the province despite an order has been fixed before Justice Jawad Hassan for Wednesday (today).

Munir Ahmad filed the petition saying a single bench on Feb 10 directed the governor and the ECP to immediately announce a date for the general election to the Punjab Assembly. However, he says, the respondents failed to comply with the court directions as no date has been allocated for the elections.

The petitioner asks the court to initiate proceedings against the respondents for committing contempt of court by consciously failing to adhere to as well as to comply with the orders.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2023