PESHAWAR    -    Peshawar High Court on Wednesday gave a last deadline to the Election Commission of Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor to submit re­ply regarding elections in the province or the court would decide the case on May 4.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Ibra­him Khan and Justice Abdul Shakoor heard the case, filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf regard­ing elections in the province. During the hear­ing, the PTI was represented by Barrister Gohar and Shumail Butt while the KP government was represented by Advocate General Amir Javed and Election Commission lawyer Mohsin Kamran. Barrister Gohar stated during the hearing that the Supreme Court had ruled that elections be held within 90 days of the dissolution of KP Assembly while the Constitution also mentions this proce­dure. He added that the governor was violating the Constitution and the Supreme Court ruling.

He said the incumbent government’s tenure ended on April 17. He said the governor first gave 28 May and then 8 October for the provincial elec­tions, which the lawyers termed a violation of the Constitution. He said law and order or financial crisis should not be considered as pretext to delay the elections. On the occasion, the advocate gen­eral said the provincial government’s reply would be submitted once notice is issued to it, while the Election Commissioner lawyer said the Commis­sion requires at least 15 days to file a reply. The court declared to hold the next hearing in the case on May 4 and to decide the case.