IHC declares ECP’s notification of turning down govt’s decision on increasing number of union councils in Islamabad as null & void

ISLAMABAD, Dec 12 (SABAH): Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday declared Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notification of turning down government’s decision on increasing number of union councils (UCs) for the local government elections in Islamabad as null and void.

Chief Justice IHC Justice Amer Farooq announced the reserved decision on a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in connection with holding of local government in the federal capital.

The court left upon the ECP to either hold or not hold the local government elections on December 31 in Islamabad and directed the Election Commission of Pakistan to revisit the decision after listening to the parties.

In the verdict, the Islamabad High Court ordered the ECP to give all the parties the right to hearing and also listen to the viewpoint of federal government on increasing the number of union councils on December 27 as well as hear the objections raised on voters lists on December 28.

Earlier during the hearing on Friday, Justice Aamer Farooq remarked that no party wants to hold the local government elections, adding that local government completed its tenure in Islamabad in 2020 but previous government did not hold the local government election on the one or the other pretext.

It is worth mentioning here that the federal government has passed legislation from National Assembly on Thursday and from Senate on Friday for the increase of the Union Councils in Islamabad from 101 to 125.