LG polls in Sindh: SC concerned over delimitation of constituencies for Phase-II

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court expressed concern over the delimitation of constituencies for the phase-II of Local Government elections in Sindh.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday heard the MQM-P’s petition against the delimitation of constituencies for phase-II of Local Government elections in Sindh.

The chief justice said under the Sindh Local Government Act, 2015, the provincial government is empowered to conduct the delimitation, adding in its implementation there seem to be some flaws. He questioned whether the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), ignoring the flaws, did delimitation according to its own system.

Justice Bandial noted that in some union councils, the population difference is more than 100 percent, adding the court can only point out flaws in the law, but cannot change the law.

Justice Mansoor observed that according to one section of the Act power of delimitations of constituencies is given to the ECP, while the other section of the same Act gives this power to the provincial government.

The chief justice inquired if the number of union councils could be increased in delimitation. Farogh Naseem replied that the number of union councils be reduced or increased.

Justice Mansoor said that the provincial government had made the structure of delimitation for the local bodies. He questioned whether the Election Commission could change the structure. The chief justice remarked that the ECP can do only those things to which it is authorised. He observed that in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act procedure is given what will be the population of a union council.

Naseem said in the Sindh Local Government Act, there is no clear procedure for the determination of population in a union council. He said for Orangi Town’s 0.7 million population seven votes are for metropolitan mayor, while Mominabad’s 0.4 million people there are nine votes for mayor.

Former attorney general Khalid Javed, representing unopposed elected candidates in phase-II, argued that the delimitation cannot be done as per the rules of mathematics. He said if the MQM-P plea is accepted then delimitations for the provincial and national seats across the country will be affected. He said the delimitations in Sindh were carried out as per the Act 2015.

The chief justice told Khalid Javed that the provincial and the national delimitations have also been challenged before the apex court.

Khalid Javed contended that this case is not confined to Mominabad or Karachi, but it could also affect the delimitations across the country. He said in many areas of Karachi eight to 10 persons live in a 110 sq metre house, while in some other areas three persons live in a 1,000 sqmetre house.

The counsel argued that the Election Commission while carrying out delimitation did not keep in mind only the population, but other factors like basic facilities in the constituency.

He said the largest province of the country has a lesser population, adding Karachi needs the local government urgently.

Justice Ayesha Malik asked Javed to clarify on what basis the delimitation was done by the provincial government for phase-II of LG polls. She said had the delimitation carried out transparently then there would have been no issue of delimitations.

Khalid Javed said that the Sindh High Court (SHC) in 2016 had given guidelines for delimitations, which were followed. He said the MQM-P through Farogh Naseem had challenged Section 10(1) of Sindh Local Government Act, 2015 before the phase-I of the LG polls in the province, but the SHC dismissed the petition as the Act was challenged just before the LG polls.

The Additional Advocate General Sindh adopted the arguments of Khalid Javed, and told the bench he would submit documents regarding the instant matter.

The case was adjourned until Wednesday (today).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022