KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday sought replies from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and others on a petition against new delimitations of local government councils for new polls.

A division bench of the SHC sought the replies from the parties concerned for September 24, 2020 on a petition which was filed at the SHC after the ECP announced the schedule for fresh delimitation of local government bodies in Sindh after expiry of their four-year term.

The petitioner submitted that the final results of the national census had not been released, stating that delimitation couldn't be done without the final results of the census. The petitioner requested the court to restrain the ECP from delimiting the constituencies for the local government elections.

Earlier, the ECP had announced fresh delimitation of union councils, union committees and wards. Local government elections will be held in Sindh after delimitations. According to the ECP schedule, the process of local bodies' delimitation would be completed between September 9 and 22. Preliminary delimitation of local councils in Sindh will be displayed on September 23, 2020.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020