ISLAMABAD, Feb 14 (APP): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday sought a written statement from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) regarding the local body elections in 125 union councils of the federal capital.
The bench asked the ECP to inform it how much time would be required to the institution to conduct the LG polls in said UCs.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Saman Raffat Imtiaz heard the intra court appeals of ECP and federation against the decision of single-member bench.
The chief justice asked that if the ECP announced the elections schedule in 125 union councils of the capital then what would be the guarantee that the UCs’ number wouldn’t be increased again.
He also asked why the paragraph regarding the direct election of mayor and deputy mayors was excluded from the local government bill. To this, Additional Attorney General Munawar Dogal said that Additional Attorney General Aamer Rehman would give arguments on this matter and prayed the court to adjourn the case.
The court questioned why the reforms were not introduced in the system, adding that the number of UCs could be increased through the executive order. Justice Farooq said that now the court was expecting an affidavit from the federal government.
The court directed the AAG to ask the secretary interior or any other responsible to give a statement before it regarding the UCs. The court also sought the written comments from ECP and adjourned the case till Monday.
