Lahore High Court told the Governor Punjab and the Election Commission on Thursday to submit a reply about delay of elections in Punjab by tomorrow (Friday).

The court remarked that it would ‘sit late into the night’ if need to wrap up the case by February 13.

The ECP’s request to form a larger bench was rejected by the court.

PTI’s lawyer Ali Zafar said that the the constitution was clear on the fact that elections must be held within 90 days of the assembly’s dissolution.

The governor’s reply in court has said that the onus of announcing an election date was not on him since he was not the one who dissolved the assembly.

Speaking after the hearing, Fawad Chaudhry said the government’s attempts to run away from the elections would amount to ‘abrogating’ the constitution.

PTI leader Asad Umar said that the ECP requires 54 days to prepare for the elections, so the verdict should be announced soon so the 90-day limit would not be violated. He also said there is no legal basis for delay in elections and the responsibility for a fee and fair election falls on the ECP and the federal government is bound to assist it in whatever way required.

He added that the governor had not submitted a reply despite a six-day notice because ‘they have no answer’.

PML-N leader Rana Mashood said that the affairs of the country cannot be run on the ‘whims’ of one political party. He said that the PTI’s demand for elections was a veiled attempt to tell the world that there is political instability in Pakistan.

He added that the government has no money to conduct elections because the treasury had been emptied by the PTI government. He also said that elections can be delayed in an emergency, as they were done after Benazir Bhutto’s death.