KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Saturday adjourned the hearing of petitions challenging the Sindh Local Government Amendment Bill 2013, which bounds the members to cast their votes by showing their hands instead of secret voting for electing mayor and deputy mayor.

SHC bench, headed by Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, was hearing the identical petitions filed by Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F).

In Saturday's hearing Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) also filed an intervener petition to become the party in this case. The court will hear JI's counsel's arguments on the next hearing.

Earlier, MQM and PML-F had submitted that amendment in the Bill is violation of Article 266 of Pakistan's constitution which allows secret polling.

‘The constitution states that all election, except those of prime minister and chief minister shall be held through secret balloting; therefore, any procedure for electing Local Government (LG) representatives by showing hands will be against the constitution,’ they added.

MQM and PML-F requested the court to declare the amendment made by the government as null and void.

The court was further requested to restrain the authorities concerned from electing mayor and deputy mayor by showing of hands.

Copyright PPI (Pakistan Press International), 2016