The Supreme Court was informed Tuesday that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) government is ready to hold Local Bodies (LB) polls in the province as it has completed the process of delimitation of constituencies in pursuance of apex court's orders.
Resuming the hearing of a matter relating to LB polls in KPK, Punjab and Sindh a three-member bench of Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani observed that the bench would announce its decision over delimitation of constituencies in Punjab and Sindh soon.
Appearing on court's notice, KPK's top Law Officer Abdul Latif Yusufzai submitted that the provincial government was ready to hold LB polls after a court decision in that regard.
He further apprised the bench that in pursuance of court's orders the provincial government had also issued a notification after completion of the process of delimitation of constituencies, saying a copy of the document was also provided to the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Yousufzai submitted that though the KPK government had issued a notification on delimitations of constituencies in the province, it depended upon the verdict of the court as the issue of delimitation in Sindh and Punjab was still pending with the apex court. He said the Supreme Court had yet to decide as to whether the process of delimitation could be assigned to the Election Commission of Pakistan or not.
Expressing his reservations, Yousufzai added that if the ECP was asked through the apex court judgement for a delimitation process then all the exercises of the KPK government could stand abolished. After pointing out the issue, he pleaded the bench for a viable remedy in the instant matter.
The bench remarked that the court would announce its verdict on the issue of delimitation of constituencies in Punjab and Sindh as soon as possible and directed the KPK government to complete arrangements for LB polls in the province. The bench adjourned the hearing of the case for a date in office.
Meanwhile, the same bench also resumed the hearing of a review petition of Watan Party on election reforms and sought a comprehensive reply from the ECP regarding the implementation of its orders in 15 days. Bilal Minto, the counsel for Wattan Party, appeared before the court and submitted that some portions of two decisions of the court had been implemented but due to some technical reasons, other portions of court's decisions had yet to be implemented for which the Election Commission could be asked for its reply over the matter.
To which, the bench asked DG Election Commission Sher Afghan to apprise the court about the reasons why its orders were not implemented yet. The DG ECP prayed for some time to submit a reply; upon which, the court directed him to file a reply within 15 days. Meanwhile, the court ruled that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf petition, filed for the verification of thumb impressions of voters would be clubbed with the instant case and adjourned the hearing till filing of Election Commission's reply.
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