ISLAMABAD: The Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar on Friday approved Pak Sarzameen Party’s (PSP) appeal against the registrar’s dismissal of its petition related to the recent population census in Karachi.
The appeal was heard by the CJP in his chambers where the PSP Chief and former Karachi mayor Mustafa Kamal was present.
In his decision, Chief Justice Nisar observed that the hearing on the petition will be held after the general election, due on July 25, as any proceedings prior to that could impact the polls.
In the petition, the PSP had claimed that the population census conducted earlier this year has undercounted Karachi’s population, which in reality is over 30 million.
The census showed the city’s population as around 15 million.
Kamal, while addressing the media outside the apex court, stated that thousands of people arrive in Karachi every year and settle there. He added that despite the influx, population counts of Karachi’s rural and urban areas show a decrease in numbers.
Earlier, Kamal claimed that the latest census in Sindh province has slashed Karachi’s population by seven million. He further alleged that only the population of the port city was shown to be less while the rural population count was kept intact.
