LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday sought replies from the principal secretary to the president, the federal government and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by September 6 on a petition of a bar member against the proposed delay in the general elections for fresh delimitation.

The court also sought assistance from the Attorney General of Pakistan on next hearing.

Earlier, the petitioner Muqsit Saleem contended before the court that the ECP issued the impugned notification on August 17 conferring extensive powers of conducting fresh delimitation which would delay the upcoming general elections.

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He argued that the Constitution mandated the ECP to hold fair and free election within 90 days after the dissolution of the assemblies. He pointed out that the 90 days period was due to lapse in November 2023.

He asked the court to set aside the impugned notification and restrain the authorities concerned from following the unconstitutional directives by the ECP.

A law officer argued that there were different timelines for the fresh delimitation which required at least four months completing the process. The court questioned the delay in election and said the ECP should have kept its preparations fully completed in any case.

The court observed that the ECP should put extra effort so the fresh delimitation could be done at the earliest and sought replies from the respondents till next hearing.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023