Daily Times

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sent the matter of delimitations of provincial constituencies in Sindh to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial heard the case regarding the delimitation of three constituencies S-7, S-8 and S-9 Shakarpur. During the course of proceedings, the chief justice remarked that it was a matter of public interest, which had been raised before the top court several times.

The ECP should ensure delimitation in a transparent way as it could affect the volume of votes to the candidates, he observed, adding there was more sensitivity in the regard in the province of Sindh.

The CJP asked from the ECP’s Director General Law regarding the elections schedule, saying so far no date had been fixed in that regard.

The court instructed the ECP to resolve all such matters before the general elections and sent the matter to Commission. CJP Bandial inquired when were the general elections being held. To this, the Director General (Law) Muhammad Arshad shrugged his shoulders. “As yet, no date for the elections has been decided. The election commission should resolve all issues before the polls,” the CJP said. “This matter is more sensitive in Sindh. Grievances often come forth that delimitations in the province were not correct,” he added.

After hearing the arguments, the SC referred the matter back to the electoral body. After the final results of the first-ever digital census were approved earlier this month, the ECP is now expected to conduct fresh delimitation of constituencies. However, the electoral body had recently declared that conducting polls on fresh delimitation was not possible and that the exercise would require four to six months, making it almost certain that general elections may not be held this year.