The Islamabad High Court (IHC) reserved its verdict on Thursday regarding petitions seeking to suspend the local government election schedule and halt elections in the federal capital.
During the hearing of a petition filed by Chaudhry Amjad Ali, counsel Adil Aziz Qazi argued that the election schedule was announced following a 2024 delimitation, but a new Local Government Ordinance was subsequently introduced in 2026. Qazi contended that this new ordinance necessitated the withdrawal of the previous schedule and the cancellation of the earlier delimitation. He noted that while the existing Act provides for one metropolitan corporation, the new ordinance envisages three. Qazi further argued that the election schedule was issued without restoring the previous delimitation after the ordinance ceased to operate.
The court questioned whether the new ordinance had become law, to which Qazi replied that it had been approved by the cabinet and forwarded to Parliament. Justice Umair Majid Malik observed that the key question was under which legal order the new delimitation was conducted.
Justice Malik also questioned whether an election could be held in a ward where constituencies had mixed union councils and wards. He asked the counsel to identify the legal provision requiring the proposer and seconder to belong to the same ward.
Qazi argued that voter lists were not provided by the time the election schedule was announced, leaving voters unaware of their respective wards. He stated that very few candidates initially filed nomination papers, which prompted an extension of the deadline to the 8th.
The counsel requested the court to suspend the election process, noting that a stay order had been granted in an earlier proceeding. Justice Malik asked if the counsel was alleging that the entire process was being conducted in haste and in violation of the law.
Regarding campaign costs, Qazi argued that if the schedule was not suspended, candidates would have spent millions of rupees on their campaigns. Justice Malik remarked that if someone chose to spend millions of rupees, it was not the court’s responsibility. However, the Justice observed it was alarming if candidates spent Rs10 million on an election but declared expenditure of only Rs 100,000.
