The Sindh High Court on Friday issued notice to the Sindh chief secretary, the local government secretary, law secretary and chief election commissioner to submit their respective replies to a petition challenging Sindh government’s powers to carry out delimitations for the local government elections.
The petitioner, Syed Zafar Ali Shah, submitted that in compliance with the Supreme Court orders, the Sindh government promulgated on March 2 Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2015, under which the Sindh government shall determine the number of union councils, union committees and wards in municipal committees and town committees for the local government elections. After demarcation, the election commission shall delimit the union councils, union committees and wards.
He stated that the Sindh government malafidely retained delimitation powers to commit gerrymandering and the ruling party wanted to win the local government elections through gerrymandering and unlawful means.
The petitioner, represented by Advocate Syed Mureed Ali Shah, said that through this amendment, the provincial authorities shall delimit any council or ward according to wishes and nefarious aims of the ruling party.
He argued that as per the dictum laid down by the apex court the delimitation exercise is to be undertaken by the ECP and not by the Sindh, adding it was duty of the executive authorities to assist the ECP in discharging its duties.
Therefore, the petitioner pleaded to the court to the Bill’s sections empowering Sindh government to demarcate boundaries of council and wards instead of the ECP is unconstitutional. The court was prayed to suspend the operation of the Bill while restraining Sindh government from demarcating councils and wards.
It was further requested to declare the appointment of assistant commissioners and Mukhtiarkars or any other government officials as delimitation office or deputy delimitation officers or assistant delimitation officers by the Sindh government as illegal.