In a petition contesting the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification about the delimitation process, Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh of the Lahore High Court has requested comments from relevant parties by September 6.
According to the petitioner, doing so could push the election back further than the 90 days allowed by the Elections Act of the Constitution.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Justice Sheikh emphasized the constitutional requirement of holding elections within the 90-day deadline, highlighting the importance of doing so.
His questioning of the two-month lag between the census’s completion in June and its approval raised eyebrows as well.
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The federal government’s counsel argued that delimitation is too complicated to be finished in four months. He warned that under the guise of election logistics, 30 million people shouldn’t be denied voting rights.
He stated that the Supreme Court was already looking into this matter, thus delimitation should follow the census.
The judge also asked the Attorney General of Pakistan for help and told the law officer to notify him on the election date at the next session.
Petitioner Muhammad Muqsit Saleem had asked the court to overturn an ECP announcement from August 17, 2023, on the grounds that it violated the Constitution.
Saleem argued that elections must be place within the constitutionally necessary 90-day timeframe, and he asked the court to prevent the relevant respondents from acting on the challenged notification.
In addition, the petitioner asked the court to temporarily halt the challenged notification’s implementation pending a decision.
