In a revised scheduled issued today (Wednesday), the electoral authority set April 10 as the last date for filing the appeals against the returning officer's decisions to approve or reject the nomination papers.
The appellate tribunal would then decide the appeals by April 17 and issue a revised list by April 18. The last date for the withdrawal of candidature and the issuance of a final list of candidates has been set as April 19.
Once the revised list is published, the electoral symbols will be assigned to the candidates, by April 20.
A day earlier, the Supreme Court declared the ECP's decision regarding the postponement of elections in Punjab till October as null and void.
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A three-member bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and including Justices Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Munib Akhtar, announced the decision.
In its ruling, the apex court deemed the decision to hold elections on October 8 “unconstitutional” and mandated that they take place on May 14 in Punjab.
The ruling also stated that the Punjab government shall provide the Election Commission with a security plan. It further stated that a report on the electoral personnel should be submitted to ECP by April 10 by the caretaker government and chief secretary of Punjab.
Late last month, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial turned down AGP Mansoor Awan’s request to form a full court to hear PTI’s plea against the elections delay.
According to the court, the law or the rules don’t support the composition of a full court and doing so would take the matter back to its start.