• Commission official fails to satisfy court when asked about elections date
• CJP points towards controversies over delimitations, terms it matter of public interest

ISLAMABAD: The Sup­r­eme Court on Tuesday asked the Elec­t­ion Com­mission of Pakistan (ECP) to consider resolving issues by conducting a transparent deli­mi­ta­tion process, since they still have time before the next elections.

The observation came when, during a hearing, a two-judge Supreme Court bench consisting of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi asked ECP Director General Law Muhammad Arshad when the commission was planning to hold the next general elections.

Upon receiving no encouraging reply, the CJP observed that ECP still had time and could conduct delimitation in a transparent manner.

Later, a two-page order suggested that the Supreme Court provided an opportunity to the ECP to consider whether the commission was willing to answer the objections highlighted by the petitioners or would contest the matter in court.

The court had taken up a set of petitions moved by Muhammad Shaharyar Khan Mahar, Muham­mad Ibrahim Jatoi and Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh against a Dec 9, 2022 order of the Islamabad High Court, rejecting the petitioner’s objections against altering the preliminary territorial delimitation of Sindh’s District Shikarpur in complete contravention of the principles of delimitation delineated in Section 20 of the Elections Act, 2017.

The delimitation of the constituencies concerns the public interest, the CJP observed during the hearing. He added the controversies regarding delimitation have come to the apex court on a number of occasions. The sensitivity regarding the delimitation prevails in Sindh more than in other provinces since complaints were raised all the time from Sindh that the delimitation process was not conducted in a transparent manner, he observed.

One of the petitioners, Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh, through his counsel Salahuddin Ahmed, had questioned ECP’s alleged arbitrary decision to alter the delimitation boundaries between PS-7 and Ps-9 without giving any reasons.

The petition recalled that after the publication of the final result of the Sixth Population and Housing Census on May 6, 2021, for the purposes of general elections due in 2023, the ECP delimited territorial constituencies for election to the Sindh Assembly’s PS-7, PS-8, and PS-9.

‘Contravention of delimitation principles’

The petition argued that the ECP order dated July 14 2022 altered the preliminary territorial delimitation of PS-7 in complete contravention of the principles of delimitation delineated in Section 20 of the Election Act.

The petition argued that the alteration of the territorial delimitation of PS-7 was in contravention of the constraints of ensuring administrative convenience, contiguity and homogeneity.

Moreover, it was in disregard of other elements such as geographical and communication factors, existing boundaries of administrative units, facilities of communication, public convenience, previous delimitations, and ethnic strife etc.

The petition contended that ECP’s order was a non-speaking order since it does not prove any reasons for the alteration of the territorial delimitation of PS-7 which demonstrates that ECP had not applied its independent mind and was presumably influenced by extraneous considerations. These alterations are so unreasonable that they lead to an irresistible inference of malice in law and fact rendering ECP’s order unsustainable under the law, the petition argued.

The petitioner has pleaded before the Supreme Court to set aside both the Dec 9, 2022, IHC order as well as the July 14 ECP order of modifying the final list of constituencies public under Section 21(4) of the Election Act by restoring the territorial limits of the constituencies of District Shikarpur to that proposed under ECP’s preliminary report of 2022 and the list of constituencies published under Section 21(2).

Or, in the alternative, the Supreme Court should order ECP to rehear the representations filed by the voters of District Shika­rpur challenging the preliminary report and list of constituencies.

The petitioner argued that the delimitation in the 2018 election without violating Tapedar Circle was closer to the limits now being demanded and that the difference in the number of voters in each of the three provincial constituencies namely PS 7, 8, and 9 in Shikarpur was more pronounced and exceeds the variation limits set by Section 20(3) of the Elections Act.

During the hearing, the ECP defended its action on the basis of Rule 10(4) of the Election Rules 2017 since this provision requires that the limits of “Tapedar Circle” should not be breached in the delimitation process. The case will again be taken up in Sept again.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2023