The SHC advocate general has pledged to send the detained UC chairmen to City Council on election day so that they can vote for the mayor.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) has mandated that the detained UC chairmen of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) be brought to the Karachi City Council in time to cast their ballots in the approaching mayoral election.
A two-judge bench consisting of Justice Yusuf Ali Saeed and Justice Mohammad Abdul Rehman issued the ruling on Friday after hearing a plea from Jamaat-e-Islami.
Jamaat-e-Islami was represented by Saifuddin Advocate and Usman Farooq Advocate, while the police and the Sindh government presented a list of four UC chairmen, Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Omar Daraz, Syed Amjad, and Muhammad Mustafa, who had been arrested for their alleged involvement in various cases.
It was claimed that Naqvi is receiving care at the NICVD Sukkur for his cardiovascular issues.
As the Sindh advocate general put it, “We cannot bear the responsibility of bringing all the individuals other than the arrested ones,” the Sindh government expressed sorrow for the difficulty created by summoning all elected delegates before the City Council.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s attorneys contended that a UC chairman had been arrested two days prior, prompting the court to request information about the detained official. The court also voiced reservations regarding the conduct of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
In response, the ECP attorney claimed that the elected representatives are explicitly instructed to take part in the voting process.
The Sindh advocate general promised to have the detained representatives brought to the appropriate venue on election day, but they stressed that they would not be held responsible for the attendance of any detained representatives.
Lawyers for the Jamaat-e-Islami party claimed that police had been intimidating city council members and town mayors to discourage PTI candidates from running in upcoming elections. They asked the judge to issue a ruling mandating the presence of all duly elected officials.
The Sindh lawyer general countered that Jamaat-e-Islami does not have enough lawmakers to back up its claims.
For their part, Jamaat-e-Islami’s legal team argued that the Pakistan People’s Party is abusing its power in government because it is terrified of losing.
The court ruled that all elected representatives should be allowed to vote in the mayoral elections as instructed by the ECP and that the Sindh government must provide their safe transit to the city council after their incarceration.
Separately, Justice Yusuf Ali Saeed and Justice Mohammad Abdul Rahman heard a petition about the MPO (Maintenance of Public Order) detention of PTI employees.
Mahjabeen Advocate, the petitioner’s lawyer, brought up the issue of two activists, Amin and Athar Wasim, who were arrested in their houses and are now being incarcerated in Ghotki Jail. Legal representation requested that the MPO notification be withdrawn.
The next hearing is scheduled on June 14 and the court has asked for statements from the Sindh home secretary and IG by that date.
