ISLAMABAD: A day after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) postponed local government (LG) elections in the federal capital, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) heard petitions against the decision of the election watchdog, asking it to satisfy the court regarding its decision to defer polls.

Meanwhile, the IHC division bench comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir disposed of an intra-court appeal of the PTI requesting the court to stop the Election Commission from delaying the polls since they had already been postponed.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-i-Islami(JI) had moved the high court against the ECP order issued on Dec 27 postponing elections in Islamabad.

Petitioner’s lawyer Sardar Taimoor Aslam, while giving a brief background of the matter, stated that earlier in the exercise of powers conferred under sub-section (1) of Section 6 of the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Act 2015, the federal cabinet issued a notification on June 19, 2015, determining the number of the union councils at 50.

The said notification was withdrawn on May 18, 2021. On June 2, 2022 the ECP announced the election schedule relying on the earlier notification of 50 UCs. At the same time, the ECP had expressed willingness to conduct elections and filed a report in the high court stating that directions may be issued to the federal government not to change the number of union councils or amend the law.

The said petition was disposed of with the observation that the commission would complete the process of delimitation of 101 union councils within the period specified under Section 7 of the 2015 act. After a fresh delimitation exercise, the number of UCs was increased to 101.

Thereafter the ECP announced the election schedule for Dec 31. However, a summary was sent to the federal cabinet, seeking an increase in the number of UCs from 101 to 125. Based on the said summary, the number of UCs was increased to 125 vide notification dated Dec 19. The decision was initially opposed by the ECP, but it subsequently agreed to postpone elections.

The counsel for the petitioner contended before the court that the ECP cannot retract its earlier commitment. He argued that the commission through its order on Dec 20 had decided to continue with the election process for cogent reasons. He added that no new development occurred after the passing of the said order.

It was argued that any bill proposing amendments to any law cannot be termed as an act of parliament unless assented to by the president under Article 75(3) of the Constitution. However, the commission in the impugned order has placed reliance on the proposed amendments, which have not yet attained the status of a law of the land.

Justice Tahir directed the registrar’s office to issue notices to the respondents – ECP and the federal government –and also issued a notice to the attorney general. The court asked the respondents “to assist as to why the amount incurred on the process so far, for the conduct of elections, may not be recovered from members of the federal cabinet”.

“The respondents are also directed to satisfy this court as to why the impugned order should not be suspended, pending final disposal of the instant petition,” he asked.

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2022