ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday filed a petition requesting the Supreme Court to review its directives to hold elections for the Punjab Assembly on May 14.

The ECP, in its 14-page petition, stated that the Supreme Court should review its decision as the judiciary “doesn’t have the authority to give the date of elections.” The petition urged that the court should not intervene in the ECP’s matters.

It has been stated in the petition that superior courts of the country have been granted a special power under Article 199 and Article 184(3) of the Constitution to judicially review actions/decisions of the public bodies.

The petition states that, “The superior courts can define the contours within which the power (which vests in the public bodies) is or is to be exercised. At no instance, can the superior courts take upon themselves the role of the public body.”

The ECP reiterated that the appointing of the date for the election is “not the mandate of superior courts under the Constitution.” “Such powers exist elsewhere under the Constitution but certainly not lie in a Court of law,” the ECP said, citing various legalities and reasons behind its statement.

The ECP accused the Supreme Court of disregarding its constitutional jurisdiction, emphasizing that it assumed upon itself the role of a public body in giving a date; "thus intervention by the Court is necessitated to correct an error which has effectively changed the settled constitutional jurisprudence of the country."

The ECP, in its petition, claimed that the court has overlooked material questions of the Constitution and law, which have material bearing on the decision. “The errors of law are floating on the face of the record and are manifest and clear that these may not be allowed to remain as such,” the ECP wrote.