The Supreme Court on Wednesday evening issued directives to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to submit a revised schedule for holding local bodies (LB) polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Punjab, Sindh and Cantonment Boards of the country by Thursday (today). A three-member bench of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja resumed the hearing of a case regarding LB polls in the three provinces, Cantonment Boards and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).
Earlier, on Wednesday afternoon, the Secretary ECP Sher Afgan and Attorney General for Pakistan appeared before the bench, but failed to come up with a notification about the schedule regarding LB polls in pursuance of court's earlier directives. For which the bench reassembled at 8:30 pm and asked the Secretary ECP to produce the schedule in pursuance of the directives of the bench issued in the earlier part of the day.
Submitting the schedule for the LB polls, the Secretary ECP said that polling day would be May 16, 2015 in the Cantonment Boards, June 7, 2015 in KPK, adding that LB polls in Sindh and Punjab would be held in two phases - January 16, 2016 and February 20, 2016.
The Secretary further said that four months and twenty days were required for delimitation of constituencies in both the provinces to which the bench asked the ECP to submit a revised schedule of the LB polls mentioning the process of delimitation to be initiated immediately. One of the members of the bench, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, said the LB polls in the said areas could be held during the first week of September 2015 if the ECP starts working form March 5 to devolve powers at grassroots level.
The bench repeatedly asked the Secretary of the ECP to come up with clear mind and let the court know about whatever is hindering him form giving a schedule for the LB polls saying, "the court is trying to strengthen you". Afgan submitted that the ECP lacks the required human resource and facing lacunae in the election laws to hold LB polls to which the bench categorically said that the apex court had ruled in its judgement of November 5, 2013 and March 19, 2014 through expressive directions to the ECP to fulfil the demand of the constitution to hold LB polls.
In response to contention of advocate M. Bilal that the ECP has not submitted the LB polls schedule in ICT, the bench asked the Secretary ECP to submit a schedule on March 10. Adjourning the matter till March 5 (today), the bench directed the Secretary ECP to provide justification for not holding LB polls in the country in pursuance of court's verdict of March 19, 2014.
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