KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Thursday expressed its displeasure over the delay by the authorities concerned in holding the local government elections in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions and sought details about the strength of police and Rangers personnel required for security duty for the polling.

A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali M. Shaikh directed the advocate general of Sindh to obtain complete information about total strength of police and Rangers in the province along with their current deployment.

The bench was hearing the petitions of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Jamaat-i-Islami filed against postponement of the second phase of local government elections in Sindh.

In the previous hearing, the Election Commission of Pakistan had informed the SHC that a meeting had been scheduled for Nov 9 to fix a date for the repeatedly postponed LG elections in Karachi division.

Bench expresses displeasure over delay in holding elections

At the outset of the hearing on Thursday, the ECP informed the bench that such a meeting could not take place as a public holiday was declared on Nov 9, and the meeting had now been scheduled for Nov 15.

ECP’s law officer Abdullah Hanjra further submitted that the LG elections in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions had not been held so far as the requisite security deployment was not being made available by the provincial government on the excuse that personnel were engaged in flood relief operations.

The bench asked the provincial authorities to explain the utility of police force in flood-affected areas and remarked that whether police had undertaken any operation for assistance of flood victims even in one disaster-hit village.

The bench also noted that in the last hearing, it had called reports from the inspector general of Sindh police as well as director general of Pakistan Rangers Sindh, but such reports had not been forthcoming as yet.

“Under such circumstances, the learned Advocate General, Sindh is directed to obtain the complete information as to the total strength of Police Personnel and Rangers Personnel in the Province alongwith their current deployment(s), as well as the number of such Personnel as can be assigned for duty in respect of the aforementioned Local Government Elections,” the bench said in its order.

The ECP submitted that it had also asked PTI chief Imran Khan, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, MQM-P’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, JI’s Karachi chief Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, federal interior secretary and provincial police officer Ghulam Nabi Memon to attend the meeting on Nov 15 at 10am at ECP office Islamabad.

While adjourning the hearing till Nov 14, the bench directed the provincial election commissioner, chief secretary of Sindh and inspector general of Sindh to be present in person at the next hearing.

In the last hearing, the ECP had informed the SHC that the LG elections in Karachi division scheduled for Oct 23 were postponed due to non-provision of security as provincial government through a letter asked the ECP that police from other districts were still not available due to flood duties for at least three months and 5,000 policemen had been placed at the disposal of IG Islamabad for controlling law & order in the federal capital on the request of the interior ministry and police were also engaged in Covid-19 paediatric vaccine campaign as well as in the 11th International Defence Exhibition & Seminar (IDEAS-2022).

The PTI and JI had moved the SHC in August soon after the ECP postponed the LG polls, for a second time, scheduled to be held in Karachi and Hyderabad divisions on Aug 28.

Mujahid Colony houses demolition case

The Sindh High Court on Thursday issued notices to government officials on a petition filed against demolition of houses in Mujahid Colony.

The notices were issued to the secretary of local government department, director general of Karachi Development Authority and other respondents.

Some residents of the area petitioned the SHC contending that their leased and legal houses were being demolished on the pretext of anti-encroachment operation.

The petitioners asserted that they had all legal documents issued by the relevant government departments.

Impleading the secretary of local government, MD of KDA, administrator of Karachi, deputy commissioner of Central, director katchi abadis and others as respondents, they sought directives for the respondents to stop the demolition drive and compensate the petitioners.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2022