The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Monday filed a constitutional petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) against the postponement of scheduled election for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly in Karachi.
It asked the court to declare AJK Election Commission’s orders regarding the cancellation of polling in three AJK constituencies null and void.
It also requested the court declare the whole elections process illegal and order voting afresh.
Law and constitutional experts termed the petition by MQM a political move, saying AJK assembly’s elections were out of the jurisdiction of the Sindh High Court and the prayer that whole election process be declared illegal could not be entertained.
MQM leaders and former AJK assembly members Saleem Butt and Tahir Khokar filed the petition on behalf of their party through Sindh Advocate General Barrister Dr Farogh Naseem, submitting that the government postponed the AJK election for Karachi seats illegally. They added that there was no need to postpone the election, but the government announced the decision without any justification.
Accusing the Sindh police chief of issuing fake report regarding law and order, the petitioner submitted that the DIG Headquarter issued a fake report in which the law and order was depicted as “worst” and the government postponed the election on the basis of that report.
The petitioners said their party had bee pressurised by the PPP at all levels for backing out of running for one of the two seats in Karachi, but the MQM refused and the election were subsequently postponed.
The MQM said other political parties who participated in the election have also expressed their reservations on the voters’ list.
The AJK chief election commissioner, federal and provincial governments and the Sindh IG have been named as respondents in the case.
The SHC admitted the constitutional petition and might hear it today (Tuesday).
Later, MQM leader Haider Abbas Rizvi told reporters that the deferred elections should be held immediately, as the polling had been postponed unconstitutionally.
