ORDER SHEET

ORDER SHEET

IN THE HIGH COURT OF SINDH, KARACHI

C.P No.D-6897 of 2015

Present

Mr. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar

Mr. Justice Syed Saeeduddin Nasir

Muttahada Qaumi Movement & another…Petitioners

Versus

Province of Sindh & others ….. Respondents

Date of hearing 02.12.2015

Mr. Nishat Warsi, Advocate for petitioners.

Mr. Shaikh Liaqat Hussain, Standing Counsel.

Mr. Mohammad Aslam Bhutta, Advocate for Intervener.

Mr. Mukesh Kumar Karara A.A.G a/w Abdul Zubair Khan, District Election Commissioner/De-Limitation Officer, Karachi East and Abdullah Hanjrah Law Officer, Election Commission.

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Muhammad Ali Mazhar J. Through this petition, the petitioners have challenged that there is no provision for filing revised final list after issuing schedule on 10.06.2015, therefore, the De-Limitation Authority has no right and jurisdiction to issue revised list.

2. Brief facts of the case are that the Election Commission issued final list of Constituency for U.C 2 & U.C 6 on 28.07.2015 but subsequently, the list was revised and final list of Constituency was issued for U.C-2 & U.C-6 on 22.08.2015.

3. Mr. Abdul Zubair Khan, District Election Commission and De-limitation Officer, Karachi East is present and submits that an appeal was pending in connection with U.C No.1 to 6 which was decided on 26.07.2015. He further argued that on the basis of revised list issued on 22.08.2015 all candidates filed their nomination papers. To a question raised by this court that final list was issued on 28.07.2015 while appeal was decided on 26.07.2015. The De-limitation Officer referred to a letter written by District Election Commission to the Provincial Election Commission Sindh, Karachi on 22.08.2015 which shows that revised list was issued in pursuance of the order passed in appeal filed by Irfanullah Khan Marwat and Nadeem Akhtar and in fact in this letter the reasons have been shown for the revision. We inquired the learned counsel for the petitioners whether after issuing impugned final list on 22.08.2015 for U.C-2 & U.C-6 any representation or appeal was filed to the Appellate Authority? Learned counsel for the petitioners referred to an application dated 26.08.2015 which was filled by Ghulam Mohammad and Gulfam who are not the petitioners before this Court even otherwise, this letter is not placed in this petition but it is part of earlier C.P No.D-5845 of 2015 and the learned counsel for the petitioners brought it into our knowledge through certified copy.

4. Chapter-III of the Sindh Local Councils (Election) Rules, 2015 germane to De-limitation of Electoral Units wherein a detailed procedure is provided under Rule 9. It is the responsibility of the De-limitation Officer to arrange preliminary list of Electoral Units delimitated under Rule 8 and, thereafter, the right has been given to any person entitled to vote may within specified time make a representation in respect of the delimitation of the Electoral Units and under Rule 10, the Appellate Tribunal or Authority may after considering the representation make such amendment, alteration or modification in the preliminary list. When the learned counsel for the petitioners was confronted to the appellate order dated 26.07.2015, he argued that no such order was in the knowledge of the petitioners to assail but the facts remains that it is not an appellate order which was to be challenged by the petitioners but petitioner was required to challenge independently the defects of delimitation if any by their own and for which specific mechanism and procedure is provided under the Rules. It is also a fact that before invoking the jurisdiction of this court, the petitioners have not challenged the delimitation process before the appellate authority. Now only two days are left for the local bodies election and public at large have geared up and if at this stage any order is passed it will badly affect the electoral process. Recently in C.P No.569-K of 2015 filed in the Supreme Court by “Muhammad Idrees Chahwan and another V.s Province of Sindh and others” the hon’ble Supreme Court has held as under:-

“2. The issue whether the order of the Authority, which is notified on 04.06.2015 by the competent forum is appealable order. It is not in dispute that the petitioners were in knowledge of the order passed on 16.07.2015, which order was challenged 25.08.2015 before the Sindh High Court. There is no mention that the Petitioners ever approached the Election Commission by any representation as the de-limitation is the domain of the Election Commission. The time provided under the De-Limitation of the Constituency Rules 2015 to challenge such an order is 15 days and the Elections are to be held on 19.11.2015.

3. The Petitioners have slept over for their rights to agitate the issue either before the High Court or before the Election Commission through representation within 15 days under the Rules, No justifiable explanation is offered either in the petition or otherwise for such a delay.”

5. We are of the firm view that an adequate and equally efficacious remedy was available to the Petitioners to challenge the de-limitation process but they have not availed this remedy and approached this court directly, therefore, the petition is not maintainable, which is dismissed in limine.

JUDGE

Aadil Arab