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QUETTA: Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said the government is bound to hold local bodies’ elections under the Constitution.
“We will not allow anyone to violate the Constitution. The elected government, he said, would face difficulties if it violated the Constitution.
The chief justice made the remarks while hearing a case relating to the law and order situation in Balochistan at the Quetta Registry of the Supreme Court.
Advocate Generals of all provinces presented reports to the chief justice on the issue of local bodies’ elections.
After reviewing the reports, the chief justice said the Punjab government’s report was not effective.
He said it did not appear that elections would be held in 2013.
He observed that whenever the military took over power it first held local bodies’ elections. The chief justice warned that the government would end if anybody filed a petition against non-holding of local bodies’ polls.
He said that someone had once announced that polls would be held within ’90 days but elections could not be held in 11 years.
The chief justice issued a notice to the Secretary of the Election Commission about preparation of electoral lists. He said the commission should also tell the court when these lists would be ready. He also ordered secretaries of local bodies of the four provinces to inform the court on May 3 about the date fixed for the LB polls.—PPI
