The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) not to hold the local government re-elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Irshad Qaiser and Justice Daud Khan heard a petition regarding the suspension of local government re-polling in 356 stations in the province.
Adjourning the hearing of the case until July 14, the court also issued a notice to the ECP asking it on what grounds it is conducting re-elections.
The petition was submitted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) provincial lawmaker Zahid Durrani who argued that the May 30 local government polls were mismanaged and rigged and that the returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers (DROs) altered the results. Under these circumstances, the re-elections will be against the law and constitution, the MPA added.
The KP government had on Thursday decided to call out the army to control the law and order and security situation during the re-polls on July 5.
