Delimitation case: Authorities retain status of local constituencies despite court orders

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) issued on Tuesday notices to the provincial advocate-general and others on identical petitions challenging an agreement between the provincial election commissioner and local government department on retaining the status of 23 local bodies constituencies in 11 districts.

A division bench, headed by Justice Irfan Saadat Khan, issued notices on petitions filed by the candidates belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-N and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional.

The petitioners, including Syed Zafar Ali Shah, Jam Shabbir and Chaudhry Basharat Mehmood, had challenged the alleged agreement to not change the status of local constituencies, despite a court order in the delimitation case.

Their lawyer, Syed Mureed Ali Shah, told the judges that the election authorities had on October 19 informed the court that the issues over the delimitation of some union councils had been amicably resolved and polls in only 11 districts will be rescheduled.

Shah said that the understanding between the local government and election authorities is illegal. The court order, issued on September 18, on the delimitation of local constituencies related to rural and urban issues needs to be reviewed, he claimed.

The petitioner claimed that the respondents filed an alleged agreement report with mala fide intentions with the court. The court was requested to declare that the alleged agreement is unconstitutional and in violation of orders of the court.

During Tuesday's pro-ceedings, the bench issued notices to the local government secretary, Sindh Election Commissioner, Sindh advocate-general to file their comments by November 13.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2015.