The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court pursuing a declaration that the delimitation schedule proclaimed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on April 11 was ‘illegal’ and ‘unconstitutional’.
The petition, drafted by Advocates Faisal Chaudhry and Fawad Chaudhry, also called on the apex court to order the ECP to ensure the upcoming electoral process was held in accordance with law and the constitution.
The petition argued that the ECP conducting new delimitation of provincial and national constituencies across the country and the subsequent schedule it issued was equivalent to a violation of Article 51(5). The petition contended that this was so because the delimitation exercise conducted in 2018 on the command of the constitution had to be considered final till the new census took place.
The petition raised the point that the delimitation based on the 2017 census had already been carried out on the command of the constitution and the parliament. It added that no fresh census had been conducted or published afterwards. It also pointed that mandatory conditions given in Article 51, read with Chapter III of the Elections Act, 2017, to conduct new delimitation, had not been followed. The petition added that a fresh delimitation process was unconstitutional and illegal in these conditions.
