LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday disposed of a petition filed by Jamaat-i-Islami against the delay in holding local government elections in Punjab, in light of the statements of the advocate general and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Justice Farooq Haider resumed the hearing of the petition and Advocate General of Punjab (AGP) Amjad Pervaiz informed the court that the Punjab Assembly had passed the Local Government Bill 2025 a day earlier.

He stated that rules under the new law were being framed.

ECP counsel Imran Ranjha told the court that the commission had ordered the completion of delimitation within two months and that local government elections would be held in the last week of December this year.

In view of the statements of the ECP and the government, the petitioner’s counsel, Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, chose not to press the petition further.

The petition moved by JI Lahore Emir Ziauddin Ansari had argued that the failure to hold local body elections was unconstitutional.

It argued that the inordinate delay in the local government elections had been affecting local development and the accountability process in the province.

It expressed regret that the provincial government failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation by not holding the LG elections.

The JI leader asked the court to order the authorities to take immediate steps for conducting local government elections in Punjab and to penalise the authorities responsible for failing to meet their constitutional obligations.

Last week, the ECP had rejected all excuses of the Punjab government in finalising and enacting the new law and announced holding LG polls in December and also began the process of delimitation.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2025