SC suspends PHC’s verdict on Phase-II of KP LB polls

Peshawar: Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday has suspended the decision of Peshawar High Court (PHC) regarding postponement of second phase of local bodies elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

According to details, a two-member bench of the apex court, consisting of Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Ayesha A. Malik, heard the appeal filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the high court’s verdict.  

During the proceedings, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) lawyer told the court that PHC had deferred the schedule of the polls without listening to the arguments of the commission.

Meanwhile, Justice Ayesha Malik remarked that the high court should have listened to the stance of election commission before announcing the decision.  

On February 4, 2022, PHC had postponed second phase of local bodies election in KP that was scheduled to be held on March 27.

During the hearing at Abbottabad registry, the court remarked that people face problems in casting their votes due to heavy snowfall. The district government should re-arrange the date for local bodies election after Ramazan, the judge directed.

It is to be mentioned here that the representatives of Kohistan and Naran had filed a plea requesting to defer the polls because of severe weather conditions.

As per the previous schedule, the candidates can submit their nomination papers from February 7 to 11. The scrutiny of nomination papers will be carried out from February 14 to 16.

The election symbols would be allotted to the contesting candidates on February 28.

Earlier in December 2021, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) suffered a major setback despite being in power as Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) candidate Zubair Ali defeated Rizwan Khan Bangash in first phase of KP LG election.

According to the results, the JUI-F candidate secured 62,388 votes while the PTI’s Rizwan Bangash was able to grab only 50,659 votes.