ECP issued notice on pleas challenging PHC order against non-party polls

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on petitions challenging the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) Nov 2 order against holding the forthcoming local government (LG) polls on non-party basis.

A two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general and other parties to assist the court in the matter.

Justice Bandial remarked that the people party to the case are associated with political parties. Khushdil Khan is a member of the KP assembly while Kamran Murtaza a senator, he pointed out.

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He called for the parties to assist the court in deciding the matter while staying impartial. Their objective should be to ensure fair and transparent elections, he said. Adjourning the hearing until Nov 30, the court further instructed that the case be fixed before a three-member bench.

On Nov 2, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) declared holding the local government election on a non-party basis as unconstitutional. A bench of the high court announced its brief verdict over various identical petitions on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa local government elections.

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The court ordered the election commission to hold the village and neighborhood councils elections on the party basis and take necessary steps for party based polls.