ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) plea to suspend its single bench verdict to hold local bodies polls in the federal capital on December 31, 2022.

The IHC; however, admitted the Intra-Court Appeals (ICAs) of the ECP and the federal government issued notices to the respondents, including PTI leader Ali Nawaz Awan and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Mian Muhammad Aslam.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz heard the ICAs.

IHC rejects ECP's request to cancel LG polls in Islamabad

The bench deferred the hearing by delaying the LG polls in the capital at least until January 9 (next date of hearing).

During the hearing, Advocate Mian Abdul Rauf represented the ECP while the ECP secretary and law director general (DG) were also present in the court. The federal government’s legal team consisting of Additional Attorney General (AG) Munawar Iqbal Duggal, Deputy AG Arshad Mehmood Kiyani, and Islamabad AG Barrister Jahangir Khan Jadoon also appeared before the bench.

The ECP counsel advocate Rauf argued that a bill was passed by the parliament proposing to increase the number of Union Councils (UCs) in the capital from 101 to 125, which was returned unsigned by the president on Sunday. At that, Justice Aamer said that the bill has not even been declared an Act yet. He asked whether the bill was passed before the ECP’s decision to hold the elections.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023