Islamabad High Court admits Election commission and govt. intra court pleas for LG polls

Election commission of Pakitan and Federal government filed intracourt appeals in IHC
Islamabad High Court to hear petition on january 9 for LG polls in Islamabad
PTI and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) appealed earlier for LG election in Islamabad

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday approved the intra-court appeal filed by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the local government (LG) elections that were scheduled to be held on December 31.

Last week, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir ordered the ECP to hold the election on time (Dec 31) while hearing a petition of the PTI and JI against the election body’s verdict to delay the polls “for the time being” due to the government’s decision to increase the number of union councils (UCs).The ECP has the view that it was impossible to move thousands of staff, assign them duties and transport ballot papers in one day.

A two-member IHC bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and comprising Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz heard the intra-court appeals today.Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) had filed contempt of court petitions against the ECP for not holding elections.Howevr, the court also dismissed the ECP’s plea to suspend the IHC single bench’s verdict.

IHC chief justice expressed displeasure with the additional attorney general and ECP.During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that the government and the electoral body challenged the court’s decision of holding the LG polls on December 31 but were presenting baseless points.

The court inquired how many days are needed to hold the polls again if the number of unions councils is increased. DG laws responded, saying the ECP will hold the polls within 120 days if the number of UC is changed, adding that they also have to rectify mistakes in the voter lists.

The AAG argued that they could not submit the federal government’s response due to lack of time and had filed an application for interim relief.

The ECP lawyer urged the court to suspend the single bench’s judgment. The CJ IHC responded that the suspension of judgment had been rendered moot as the polls were not held.

The IHC issued notices to the respondents, including PTI leader Ali Nawaz Awan and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) leader Mian Aslam, summoning them on Jan 9.