Commissioners as tribunal heads: Govt yet to respond to plea by former MPA

Respondents had failed to submit responses to earlier petitions.

KARACHI: Sindh chief secretary and the local government secretary have to respond to a petition challenging the appointment of commissioners and their deputies as heads of election tribunals and delimitation officers in the upcoming local bodies elections.

On Thursday, the Sindh High Court (SHC) bench - headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar - directed the provincial law officers to file these comments by the next date of hearing after the respondents failed to  respond to earlier notices.

A former legislator, Syed Murad Ali Shah, had gone to court saying that the local government secretary had appointed the divisional commissioners as election tribunal heads on September 26 to hear objections to delimitation proposals. He also posted deputy commissioners to work as delimitation officers.

Shah said that MNAs and MPAs were influencing the constitution and composition of union councils for their own convenience. “It amounts to pre-poll rigging,” he said.

The preliminary proposed delimitation has violated the population criterion mentioned in the notification, he pointed out, adding that only the Election Commission of Pakistan can change boundaries of constituencies.

On Thursday, an official from the election commission produced a copy of the notification issued by his department.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th,2013.