The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday nullified the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) notice — which had nullified a government notification to increase the number of union councils in Islamabad — and directed the poll body to hear all stakeholders before deciding on holding local government elections in the federal capital.
The ECP will decide on December 27 whether or not the Islamabad local body elections will be held on December 31.
The Islamabad High Court directed the ECP that it should listen to all parties including the government on December 27 and decide whether the local body elections in Islamabad will be held on December 31 after increasing the number of union councils to 125.
The IHC on Friday reserved its judgment till December 27 on identical petitions regarding local government elections in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
During the hearing, IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq remarked that the court could not pass directives to the ECP (about holding the polls) as it was an independent constitutional institution and regulatory body.
IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq heard identical petitions on the LG polls, the increase in the number of union councils and changes in the voters’ list.
Attorney General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf, Additional Attorney General Munawar Dogal, Advocate General Jahangir Jadoon, DG Legal ECP, PTI leader Ali Nawaz Awan and others appeared before the court.
At the outset of the hearing, Jahangir Jadoon argued that the interior ministry had issued a notification on December 19, regarding the increase in the number of union councils but the ECP rejected it by using the suo moto powers and without hearing the federation or the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation.
He said that the federal capital had been distributed into 125 union councils adding that it was the responsibility of the ECP to conduct the delimitation. The chief justice remarked that the delimitation of Islamabad was already declared.
The increase in number would reduce the size of union councils, he said and asked whether it wouldn’t affect the local area.
The Advocate General Islamabad said that the delimitation of the UCs would be done by the ECP based on population and it wouldn’t affect the local area. AGP Ashtar Ausaf adopted the stance that the ECP was bound to conduct delimitation after the increase in the number of UCs.
He said that after the delimitation changes would also be made to the voters’ lists. The additional attorney general informed the court that the local body bill had been approved by the national assembly and now would be presented to the upper house.
He said that now the mayor and the deputy mayors would be elected directly. He asked whether the ECP had the authority to disobey the notification of the federal government. The IHC chief justice remarked that the ECP was of the view that the UCs were increased after the local body elections schedule was announced. The ECP had stated that the next elections could be conducted as per the new UCs, the court noted.
On the query related to the changes in voters’ lists, the ECP DG legal said that the process for the change was done. He also produced record related to the amendments in voters’ lists. A counsel for the petitioner adopted the stance that voters of Golra UC had been shifted to Rawat UC and the same complaints were found in other UCs as well. The ECP had stated that the correction couldn’t be made after the announcement of the election schedule, he said. He said that voters couldn’t be deprived of their right to vote and if it was so the election would be purposeless.
The election wouldn’t be free and fair if it were conducted with a lot of mistakes, he said. The ECP’s DG said that the complainants had arrived too late, adding that they should have come at the time of the process. The local body elections should be held on its time, he said.
The ECP chief justice remarked that any political party that come into power didn’t show interest in local body elections. Political analysts could tell the reason for it, he said. The court remarked that the election should have been conducted when the previous tenure was completed in 2020. The problems of the federal capital could be addressed when a Dehli model Parliament would be introduced here.
The bench reserved the verdict till December 27 after listening to arguments from the lawyers.
(With additional input from APP)
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2022.
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