Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh of the Lahore High Court sought reply from respondents in response to plea challenging legality of recent notification that Election Commission of Pakistan has issued regarding process of delimitation.
A petitioner Muhammad Muqsit Saleem sought the court’s intervention to declare the ECP’s notification issued on August 17, 2023, as unconstitutional, adding he requested the court to issue stay order in the matter. He urged the court to restrain the concerned respondents from acting upon the impugned notification and instead, take lawful measures to ensure that elections are held within the constitutionally mandated 90-day period. The petitioner prayed the court to grant stay order in the matter till final adjudication of the case.
Appearing before the bench, the petitioner’s counsel contended that the move could potentially extend the election timeline beyond the mandated 90-day period set forth in the Elections Act of the Constitution. Pertinently mention that during Wednesday’s proceedings, Justice Sheikh emphasized the constitutional imperative of conducting elections within the stipulated 90-day timeframe, underscoring the need for adherence to this timeline. He also raised a query regarding the delay in approving the census results, pointing out that the census was completed in June but took two months for approval.
Responding to the LHC query, federation counsel submitted saying the complex process of delimitation could not feasibly be completed within four months. He cautioned against disenfranchising 30 million people from electoral process under the pretext of election logistics. He argued that delimitation should naturally follow the census process, noting that this issue is already under consideration by the Supreme Court. The bench comprising Justice Sheikh sought assistance from the Attorney General for Pakistan and instructed the law officer to provide an update on the election date by the next hearing. Later, the bench adjourned hearing till September 06.
