The IHC accepted an intra-judicial appeal by the ECP and the federal government against its single bench’s decision regarding the holding of local body polls in the Federal capital on 31
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday accepted an intra-judicial appeal by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the federal government against its single bench’s decision to hold local body elections in the central capital on December 31.
A two-judge bench of the IHC headed by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq decided to hear the in-house appeals on January 9. The court issued a notice to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on 9 January. However, the IHC rejected the ECP and the government’s request to stay the single bench verdict on the same day (today).
The hearing was attended by ECP lawyer Mian Abdur Rauf and Additional Attorney General of the Federal Government (AAG) Munawwar Iqbal Duggal.
The ECP lawyer told the court that the commission had decided to postpone the LG polls to December 27, citing their reasons. He, however, added that the single bench did not consider the reasons and decided that the LG poll would be held on December 31.
Rauf argued that the ECP’s decision to postpone the elections is final as Parliament has already passed the Union Councils (UC) Increase Bill (Amended). However, President Arif Alvi returned the law without signing it, he added.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said they cannot postpone elections because of the bill. He added that the ECP lawyer’s arguments must make more sense.
The AAG argued that the ECP is a constitutional institution that cannot be dictated to. Advocate Jahangir Jadoon added that the court had given only a few hours to hold elections in the capital.
Justice Farooq questioned what would happen if the court had just quashed the ECP’s order to postpone the elections. In such a case, the ECP would have to prepare for surveys, the ECP DG Law said.
The CJ asked whether the ECP was not sure to hold the elections on December 31. The DG Act responded by making the ECP independent and announcing the schedule keeping in mind the ground reality.
Justice Aamer asked what is the procedure for rerun elections if they are postponed. In that case, the ECP would announce a new date for the polls, the DG replied.
The court was investigating how many days are needed to hold elections again if the number of union councils increases. DG Laws responded by saying that the ECP will hold elections within 120 days if the number of UCs changes, adding that they must also correct errors in the voters’ lists.
AAG argued that it could not file the federal government’s response due to lack of time and filed for interim relief. The ECP’s lawyer urged the court to set aside the single bench’s judgment. The IHC CJ responded that the suspension of judgment was considered moot because no election had occurred.
The IHC asked if the only legal course for the ECP was to give a new schedule now. The ECP lawyer said they will have to issue a new plan if they have to hold polls in the existing 101 UCs.
After the argument, the court reserved its ruling on the admissibility of the in-court objection. The IHC on Friday set aside the ECP’s order and directed him to hold local government elections in the capital on December 31. IHC Judge Arbab Muhammad Tahir accepted petitions by PTI and JI seeking to quash the ECP’s decision to postpone the local government elections.
