Ahmed Mukhtar Naqshbandi
ISLAMABAD: A two-member bench of Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday sought detailed arguments and answers from lawyers of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on the intra court appeals about the local body elections in Islamabad.
The two-judge bench was comprising Chief Justice of IHC Aamer Farooq and Justice Saman Raffat Imtiaz to hear the Intra Court Appeals (ICAs) against the order of single member bench.
IHC seeks detailed answer
The court instructed the ECP to also submit a detailed answer to the matter and asked for arguments from lawyers on the next hearing. It may be mentioned here that the single-member bench had ordered to conduct of local body elections in the federal capital on December 31. However, the decision had been challenged before the two-member bench.
Earlier during the hearing, Additional Attorney General Munawar Dogal informed the court that the concerned Additional Attorney General Aamer Rehman was busy in other cases while the office of the attorney general of Pakistan was vacant and requested the court to adjourn the hearing of the case till the next date.
Chief Justice Aamer Farooq expressed his annoyance over the response and remarked that the court could adjourn the case till 2031 if they wanted. The ECP had also filed an ICA against the decision of the single-member bench, he said.
The chief justice observed that a legislative bill couldn’t be considered an act until it was approved by the Parliament. Whether the Election Commission had asked the government why the union councils had been increased from 101 to 125, the chief justice asked.
He remarked how the population experienced a sudden increase. Should the court wait for the approval of the bill from the house, the chief justice asked.
