SHC reserves judgment on plea against preliminary delimitations

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday reserved its judgment on petitions against preliminary delimitations of national and provincial assemblies’ constituencies in Shikarpur and Khairpur.

Ibrahim Jatoi and petitioners had challenged the preliminary delimitations of the national and provincial assemblies’ constituencies of Shikarpur and Khairpur by the delimitation commissioner.

Their counsel, Rasheed A Razvi and Syed Mureed Ali Shah, submitted that the preliminary delimitations of national assembly constituencies, NA-198 and NA-199, and provincial assembly constituencies, PS, 7, 8 and 9 of Shikarpur, and PS-32 of Khairpur had been challenged before the election commission through representation, contending that the delimitation commissioner had failed to follow the guidelines mandatory under Section 20 of Election Act in which principles of delimitations had been highlighted.

They submitted that it was clearly mentioned in the election laws that during the preparation of draft proposals for the delimitation of constituencies, the delimitation committee would follow the principles of delimitations and guidelines provided by the ECP from time to time.

They added that the petitioners had raised several grounds for the purpose of delimitations of their respective constituencies, but the same were rejected by the ECP without consideration and dismissed their representation.

They alleged that the delimitations of constituencies were made in favour of a particular group of candidates, and that negated the principle of law and fair and transparent elections. They requested the court to set aside the preliminary delimitations and direct the ECP to issue a preliminary delimitation notification while considering the objections and proposals of the petitioners in conformity with the election laws.

The Election Commission of Pakistan’s counsel submitted that the petitions were not maintainable as the delimitations of the constituencies in question were done in accordance with the provisions of the election and delimitation laws.

He said all the constituencies in the districts had a well-connected communication system as they all covered major Tehsil/Taluka of the district and Tehsil was a well-settled administrative unit with all the communication available. The counsel submitted that delimitations were made in accordance with Section 20 of the Election Act and no violation of or deviation from the established laws and rules had been committed during the course of delimitations.

A division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar, after hearing the arguments of the counsel, reserved the judgment on the petitions.

‘None of the above’

The Sind High Court issued notices to the election commission and others on a petition seeking the inclusion of the additional none of the above column in the ballot paper for the forthcoming general elections.

The petitioner, Dr Natasha Mustafa, submitted that the ECP should add extra column in the ballot paper which mentions “None of the above” for those voter who expressed dissatisfaction over candidates contesting the polls.

She submitted that the option “None of the Above” should be included in the ballot paper as it would enhance the scope of political expression and public confidence in the democratic process.

She stated that it was a fundamental right of every citizen in consideration of Article 19-A of the constitution, which recognizes freedom of expression. She submitted that other countries like India, the US, Bangladesh, Spain, Columbia, Russia and Chile provided this option in their electoral systems. The court was requested to direct the ECP to provide option to the voters and include NOTA in the ballot paper in the general elections.