KARACHI, Jan 16: The Sindh High Court on Wednesday put the Election Commission of Pakistan, the provincial election commission and others on notice in a petition challenging the holding of a by-election to a vacant seat of the Sindh Assembly in Thatta.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Mushir Alam also issued a notice to the advocate-general and put off the hearing to Jan 23.

The petitioners — Abdul Hameed Panhwar, Mumtaz Ali and Imtiaz Ahmed Qureshi — impleaded the ECP, the chief election commissioner, the provincial election commissioner (Sindh), the chief secretary and the provincial police chief as respondents.

They submitted that the term of the provincial assembly would expire on April 4, 2013 as its first session was effected on April 5, 2008.

The petitioners, represented by Advocate Haq Nawaz Talpur, submitted that the provincial assembly seat, PS-84, became vacant after the resignation of the MPA of the constituency on Nov 30, 2012.

The counsel stated that the ECP issued a notification on Jan 11, 2013 for the holding of by-elections in several provincial assemblies’ seats, including the PS-84 Thatta-I on Feb 18.

He contended that the impugned notification of the election commission was contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, as it was issued in derogation of the provisions of Article 224 (4) of the Constitution.

Advocate Talpur submitted that the election commission was constitutionally bound to hold the by-election within 60 days on the vacant seat.

He said that the seat fell vacant on Nov 30, 2012 and as such the by-election ought to have been held on or before Jan 29, 2013 as envisaged under Article 224 of the Constitution.

However, he said, the election commission with ill-will and mala fide and without adhering to the mandate of the Constitution issued the impugned notification for holding of by-elections on Feb 18.The counsel said the term of the national assembly would expire on March 16, 2013 and it was an established convention that all the legislative assemblies were dissolved on or before completion of their terms on the same day.

He stated that the impugned notification was issued without considering the aforesaid convention and the mandatory period of 120 days as stipulated under Article 224 would also not be completed.

He said that holding of by-elections would be contrary to the law as it would only give four to five weeks to the incumbent assembly member as against the constitutional provision of 60 days to legislate, work and serve his constituents.

The counsel stated that according to the official figures of the election commission the expenses incurred during the election process on a single vote was approximately Rs82 and the PS-84 Thatta consisted of approximately 150,000 voters.

He said that the holding of a by-election for the incumbent to hold the office for a mere four to five weeks would be a huge loss to the national exchequer as well as depriving the tax money of the poor at a time when the general elections were around the corner.

The petitioners prayed to the court to issue a writ of certiorari against the respondents by setting aside the impugned notification.

They prayed to the court to declare that the holding of the by-election at a time when the general elections were around the corner and not giving the incumbent/ returning candidate a minimum of at least 60 days to work and legislate was against the principle of the Constitution.

The petitioner also requested the court to restrain the respondents from acting on the impugned notification.

New number plates contract Another division bench restrained the excise department from awarding a contract for the supply of security featured registration number plates for vehicles including motorcycles.

The bench headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar also issued notices to the excise secretary, chief secretary and the Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority and put off the hearing to Jan 30.

The bench was seized with the petition of F. S. Enterprises against the procurement process of the security featured number plates for vehicles and bikes.

The petitioner firm, represented by Advocate Murtaza Wahab, submitted in its petition that it had applied for tender documents after the excise department invited bids for supply of number plates through advertisements in newspapers on Dec 15, 2012.The counsel stated that later on Dec 12 the excise department issued a corrigendum in the newspaper making some fundamental changes to the requirements and schedule earlier announced in the initial advertisement.He submitted that the respondent arbitrarily withdrew the fundamental requirement of the participating firms to be registered with the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC). Moreover, he said, the opening date of the tenders was also rescheduled by the respondents without assigning any cogent reasons.

The counsel pointed out that the participating firms were required to be registered with the PEC under the rules of the Sindh Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.

He submitted that the changes in the procurement process were made to award contract to favourite contractors, who were entertaining the respondents’ illegal demands.

The petitioner firm prayed to the court to restrain the respondent from initiating any tender process.

It was also prayed that the respondents be directed to initiate fresh pre-qualification process.

The bench ordered that the impugned process may continue, but the contract shall not be awarded till Jan 30 and put off the hearing.