ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday upheld the delimitation of 10 constituencies in eight districts as it dismissed more than 20 petitions seeking to set aside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification on the matter.
After hearing arguments of the petitioners and the ECP at length, Justice Aamer Farooq dismissed the petitions filed against the delimitation of constituencies in Islamabad, Bhakkar, Batgram, Layyah, Mandi Bahauddin, Karachi, Sargodha and Mirpurkhas districts. The court reserved its verdict on the delimitation of Abbottabad.
Justice Farooq will hear petitions regarding delimitation of eight constituencies on Friday (today). On Wednesday, he declared the delimitation of Kharan, Ghotki, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Bahawalpur and Haripur districts void. On Tuesday the court set aside the delimitation of constituencies in four districts — Jhelum, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh and Lower Dir. The court remanded all these cases back to the ECP for hearing.
According to the Elections Act, 2017, the constituencies for election to the national and provincial assemblies are to be delimited after every census. However, after the delimitation of constituencies on the basis of the latest census over 120 petitions from different constituencies were filed in the IHC. The petitioners are the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and others.
The court had earlier upheld the ECP’s decision and dismissed the petitions filed against the delimitation of Khanewal, Chiniot, Kurram, Rajanpur, Mansehra, Swabi, Jacobabad, Gujranwala, Umerkot, Rahimyar Khan, Sialkot, Bannu and Chakwal districts.
The petitioners mostly claimed the constituencies had been delimited on political grounds in view of the coming elections. They argued that standard procedure had not been followed while conducting the exercise.
The ECP is supposed to follow a set formula for all the provincial and national assembly seats allotted to a district. However, the final mapping within the districts remains largely opaque and open to controversy.
Justice Farooq ruled that the rules followed in the delimitation of other constituencies should be kept in view while delimiting the constituencies in question.
Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2018
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