The Sindh High Court (SHC) ruled on Thursday that the results of the city’s mayoral election would be dependent on the outcome of the lawsuit challenging the revisions to the local government statute that allows unelected people to run for mayor and deputy mayor.
An SHC division bench headed by Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed issued an order on Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman’s petition seeking a stay order on the election for the mayor and deputy mayor posts, saying that the operation of the LG Act 2023 and its amendments could not be suspended as an interim measure.
The court stated that no cause for interim relief had been made out, but the outcome of the election would be subject to the petition’s eventual decision.
The petitioner had sought interim relief, requesting the suspension of the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) announcement for the mayor and deputy mayor elections.
The request was made on the grounds that the notification was unconstitutional, lacked legal authority, and had no legal impact. He had sought an injunction against the ECP and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation under Section 18-B of the Amendment Act.
His lawyer argued that Section 18 of the Act constituted participation in the corporation/council a sine qua non (required condition) for a person seeking election to the position of chairman or mayor.
He stated that prior to the 2023 Act, a person had to go through the rigors of a direct electoral process in order to be qualified to run for any of those positions.
He further stated that by inserting Section 18-B into the 2023 Act, the province government effectively waived the requirement, allowing anyone to be elected.
He said that Section 3 of the 2023 Act violated the fundamental principle of representative democracy at the LG level, which is based on the delegation of executive authority to elected representatives of the people, as stated in Article 140-A of the constitution.
The Sindh advocate general objected to the petitioner’s locus standing (right to pursue legal action in court) and the petition’s viability.
He stated that the petitioner is a member of a political party whose elected delegates in the provincial assembly voted in favor of the 2023 Act, which he claimed was passed unanimously.
He stated that the 2023 Act was passed by the PA on May 11, gained the governor’s approval the same day, and was subsequently published in the Sindh Government Gazette on May 12.
He said that the petition had been pushed back as a tactical maneuver so that it could be presented on June 7, just a week or so before the election.
He said that the 2023 Act was within the PA’s legislative authority and that its contents did not violate any constitutional prohibitions.
The operation of the Act, as amended, could not be suspended pending the final determination of the constitutionality matter, he ruled, and it should be given effect until then.
Rehman, who was elected chairman of North Nazimabad UC-8, claimed in his petition that the challenged amendment was promulgated and deemed to have taken effect on December 31, 2021, infringing on a past and closed electoral process by allowing unelected persons to be elected to the posts of chairman and mayor.
Wahab was elected as the mayor on Thursday, securing 173 votes. He beat JI’s Rehman, who bagged 160 votes.
