ISLAMABAD (PTI): Pakistan's election watchdog on Wednesday announced that it will hold the polls in the politically crucial Punjab province on May 14 as directed by the Supreme Court a day earlier.

A three-member bench of the apex court led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday fixed May 14 as the new date for elections to the Punjab Assembly, as it quashed the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision to extend the polls date from April 10 to October 8.

As per the schedule announced by the election commission on Wednesday, polling for elections in Punjab will be held on May 14.

The last date for filing an appeal against the decision of the Returning Officer regarding the nomination papers will be April 10.

"The ECP hereby recalls its notification of even number dated March 22, 2023 and in partial modification to this commission's notification of March 8, 2023 hereby revises the following stages of the election programme for the conduct of general elections to the provincial assembly of Punjab," the revised notification said.

In the notification, the ECP said that under the new schedule, the last date for the filing of appeals against the decisions of the returning officer rejecting or accepting the candidates' nomination papers has been set as April 10.

According to the revised schedule, the election tribunal will decide on the appeals by April 17, and the last date for publishing the new list of candidates will be April 18.

The last date for withdrawal of nomination papers will be April 19 and election symbols will be allotted to the candidates on April 20.

The elections, in line with the court's directives, are to be held on May 14.

The development comes just a day after the apex court declared as unconstitutional the ECP's earlier decision to postpone elections in Punjab, in a major blow to the federal government that has been trying to delay the election citing security issues and the economic crisis.

The Punjab assembly was dissolved on January 13 and elections should be held within 90 days.

However, it was not possible to meet the deadline due to political wrangling and the Supreme Court allowed a short delay to hold the polls on May 14.