Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial said on Tuesday that the Election Commission of Pakistan should conduct the process of delimitations transparently, stressing that it was a “matter of public interest”.
The top judge passed these remarks as a two-member Supreme Court bench, comprising Justice Bandial and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, took up a petition pertaining to errors and illegalities in the delimitation for PS-07, PS-08 and PS-09 of Sindh’s Shikarpur district.
After the final results of the first-ever digital census were approved earlier this month, the ECP is now expected to conduct fresh delimitation of constituencies.
However, the electoral body had recently declared that conducting polls on fresh delimitation was not possible and that the exercise would require four to six months, making it almost certain that general elections may not be held this year.
The delimitation issue was also brought up during the SC hearing as the CJP remarked that the matter had come to the top court several times. If the tapedar (revenue official) modifies the dotted circles during the delimitation [process], it would affect votes of the candidates contesting from the constituencies, he said.
“This is a matter of public interest.”
The ECP, Justice Bandial stressed, should conduct delimitations transparently.
“There is a lot of sensitivity on delimitations in Sindh,” he highlighted, adding that grievances regarding incorrect delimitations often came from the province.
