The Sindh High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Council of Common Interests (CCI), finance secretary, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Sindh Chief Secretary and other respondents to furnish their replies to a petition challenging the provisional results of 6th census. A division bench of the SHC, issued the notices during hearing of the petition filed by a citizen Iqbal Kazmi requesting the court to order fresh census under the supervision of a judicial commission.
The petitioner submitted that the results of the census were not accurate and doctored to trample on the rights of people. Rights should not be usurped on the basis of their language, ethnicity, and religion, he argued. He pleaded with judges to direct the authorities concerned to carry out census exercise afresh under the supervision of a judicial commission to ensure transparency throughout the process. He further requested them to stay the general elections, scheduled to be held in June next year, until the fresh census is not carried out. After hearing preliminary arguments, the bench issued notices to the official respondents of the government entities concerned and federal and provincial law officers.