The Lahore High Court on Monday sought a reply from the federal government by October 19 in response to a plea challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s notification for conducting delimitation of constituencies.
The petitioner, Muhammad Muqsit Saleem, argued that this process will cause a delay in elections beyond the statutory period of 90 days, as mandated by the Elections Act.
During the hearing, presided over by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh, the ECP requested the dismissal of the plea, arguing that the petitioner is not a concerned party. Meanwhile, Justice Sheikh also summoned the Attorney General of Pakistan to assist the court.
The petitioner prayed the court to declare the ECP’s notification, issued on August 17, as unconstitutional. He further requested that the relevant authorities cease following the unconstitutional directives of the notification and take legitimate steps to ensure elections are conducted within 90 days, as guaranteed by the Constitution. He also sought the suspension of the notification’s execution until a decision was reached.
The petitioner stated that the notification, granting extensive powers for delimitation, will delay elections beyond the 90-day limit stipulated by Article 224 of the Constitution and Section 17(2) of the Elections Act. According to him, the constituencies’ limits were already published by the commission on August 5 last year.
