Court seeks reply from LG secretary on Muttahida’s plea

Petition challenges legality of ECP's actions over lack of quorum

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court ordered the Local Government (LG) secretary and the attorney general (AG) to submit a reply regarding the incomplete quorum and legality of the actions of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro headed the two-member bench that heard the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) petition against the electoral watchdog.

MQM-P lawyer Tariq Mansoor stated that the ECP had admitted that the quorum was not complete. By conducting the LG polls elections, the national treasury incurred an expense of Rs5 billion, he said.

The court remarked that it would make the determination after getting the response from the local government secretary and the attorney general on the issue. The petitioner's counsel stated that the AG's office had not submitted a response for a year while urging the court to hear the case on a daily basis due to its urgent nature. The court, however, rejected the verbal request for daily hearings.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2023.