Maintainability of PPP plea questioned

Party sought public participation in ongoing national census, appointment of impartial enumerators

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) questioned on Friday the maintainability of the Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) petition seeking public participation in the ongoing national census and appointment of impartial enumerators in the province.

A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Munib Akhtar, however, issued notices to the attorney-general and provincial advocate-general to file comments of the federal and provincial authorities concerned.

The petition was filed by PPP leaders Farhatullah Babar and Maula Bux Chandio, who said several important aspects of the census had been concealed from the people and that the entire exercise should be transparent.



They said the people were complaining about the process of census because no procedure exists to verify the data of the families being counted. The petitioners alleged that the assistant commissioners, who were notified as census district officers, should maintain the relevant records in their respective offices. These records should also be made accessible to the people in accordance with Article 19A of the Constitution, they said.

The PPP leaders argued that the article ensures that every citizen should have the right to have access to information in all the matters of public importance subject to regulation and reasonable restrictions imposed by law.

They said such an exercise undertaken by the census staff was not being done in a transparent manner and the process of the population count should be conducted on accepted international standards and norms.



Therefore, they pleaded the court to order the respondents to set up an emergency complaint centre accessible to the people to get their grievances address regarding wrong, false and fabricated enumeration in a timely and effective manner.

On Friday, the judges observed the petitioner's party, PPP, had its government in Sindh. Therefore, the bench asked, how they could file a petition against their own government.

Advocate Farooq H Naek for the petitioners said the provincial government was supposed to follow and implement the directives given by the federal government authorities.

However, the judges asked Naek to argue on the maintainability of the plea on the next date.

The bench issued notices to the attorney-general and Sindh advocate-general to file comments of the relevant authorities subject to the maintainability of the petition.