The MQM went to court on December 25, 2012, seeking a review of the orders passed by the court on November 26, 2012.
The Supreme Court has dismissed the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) plea seeking a review of the apex court’s order regarding delimitation of electoral constituencies in the megacity of Karachi.
The larger bench hearing the Karachi law and order case – comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali, Khilji Arif Hussain, Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Gulzar Ahmed and Muhammad Athar Saeed – dismissed the plea on the basis that the petitioner’s lawyer did not press for hearing after he failed to convince the bench. The court noted that since no order had been passed in this regard, the question of a review did not stand valid.
Consequently, Barrister Farogh A Naseem, representing the MQM, withdrew the party’s petition submitted in the court against the delimitation before a fresh census was conducted.
Earlier, the top court had ordered delimitation of the boundaries of the constituencies as well as revenue estates in Karachi to avoid political polarisation so that people could live in harmony in the city.
However, during the follow-up proceedings initiated to see how far the government had implemented the apex court’s order, the judges noted none of the orders, including delimitation of constituencies, had been complied with after one year.
Explaining the inaction on part of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the regional director general on November 26, 2012, insisted that constituencies could not be redrawn due to constitutional and legal bars, as a fresh census would be required.
However, ECP Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan took a different stance on November 28 and conceded that neither Article 51(3) of the Constitution nor Section 7 of the Delimitation Act 1974 were a hurdle to comply with the court orders.
Given that the ECP had waved the green flag, the judges told him to perform his constitutional duty and carry out the delimitation.
However, on January 22, Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim had categorically stated that delimitation of constituencies in Karachi before the general elections would not be possible and pointed out that the absence of a fresh census might make it impossible to implement the Supreme Court order in this regard.
Similarly, the MQM went to court on December 25, 2012, seeking a review of the orders passed by the court on November 26, 2012.
Petitioner’s counsel Naseem submitted that delimitation in a city must be undertaken strictly in accordance with law, which “requires a fresh census before any exercise”.
Arguing that the order of delimitation was “not implementable” in the absence of a fresh census, Naseem pleaded to the court to review its previous orders.
The judges, however, saw no case to admit the petition and dismissed it.
“Since there are no orders of this court [in this regard], there remains no question of a review,” Justice Jamali, head of the bench, told the petitioner’s counsel.
“One official of the ECP said the process is barred by the law, but the secretary conceded that there is no bar. We have just recorded their statements instead of passing any order,” the judge said.
“We have never pressurised anyone. If it is practically not possible, let the Election Commission come here and say so,” Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany said.
The petitioner’s counsel pressed the matter saying how one official of the ECP can say it’s legally possible and another one say it is not. This led the judges to take serious note of the lawyer’s remarks.
“Let us deal it with the election commission,” an irked bench told the lawyer.
Henceforth, Barrister Naseem, who could not satisfy the bench over the prayer for his party’s review, took back his plea.
Taking his statement on record, the bench dismissed the review application as not pressed by the lawyer.
The Supreme Court will hear the ECP’s application in which the court has been requested to defer its observations (made on November 26 and 28, 2012) regarding delimitation of the constituencies in Karachi.
The application will be taken during Tuesday’s (today’s) session.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2013.
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