Local government polls: Sindh High Court extends restraining order on reserved seats

Bench to announce verdict on May 31.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) further extended on Thursday its restraining order against the calculation of political parties’ share of the reserved seats in local councils of Shikarpur, Badin and Malir district till May 31.

A division bench, headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar, will announce its verdict on the legality of the Election Commission Pakistan’s (ECP) move to calculate and allocate the share of reserved seats to the political parties in local councils of Sindh. On Thursday, the bench was due to announce the verdict, which was reserved on May 17, but the parties were informed that it will now be announced on May 31.

The bench was hearing two different sets of petitions filed by the candidates, who had won the recent local government elections as independent candidate from Shikarpur, Badin and Malir district. They had challenged the May 4 notification of ECP regarding schedule for election to fill the indirect seats in various local councils, as required under Section 18-A of the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013.

Advocate Haider Waheed, who represented the independent candidates from Shikarpur district, said that the ECP had clearly notified that only political parties were eligible for the allotment of reserved seats and such allocation would disenfranchise the independent candidates and their voters.

Therefore, the petitioners later informed the ECP that they are going to join Pakistan Muslim League - Functional. However, the ECP disallowed them from doing so, stating that the elected candidates could join any political party within seven days of the publication of their names in the official gazette, in light of Rule 42(A) of Sindh Local Government (Election) Rules, 2015.

Waheed argued that under Section 33 of the Local Government Act, an independent candidate can join any political party at any time. Therefore, Rule 42(A), being a subordinate law, was not binding on the petitioners. The lawyer pleaded the court to declare the rule illegal. The judges will announce verdict on their petition on May 31.

Another two groups of independently elected candidates from Badin and Malir districts had sought to be treated as political groups by the ECP and considered for allocation of reserved seats instead of the condition of joining any political party. They claimed they had their own independent groups, which should be treated as a political group by the ECP. Subsequently reserved seats in local councils should be allotted to the groups proportionately, they had pleaded. The bench put off hearing on their petitions till announcement of judgment in the other matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2016.