ISLAMABAD: A petition has been filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) October 21 order and the election schedule for local government polls in the federal capital.
Chaudhry Amjad Ali filed the petition on Thursday through his counsel, Barrister Adil Aziz Qazi, and cited the ECP, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Law and Justice, Capital Development Authority (CDA) and other relevant authorities as respondents.
In the petition, counsel for the petitioner said that elections could not be held without first determining the legal status of the existing delimitation of constituencies. He maintained that the legal framework governing Islamabad’s local government constituencies needed to be settled and fresh, transparent delimitation carried out.
The petition stated that the legal term of Islamabad’s local government institutions had expired in February 2021 and, under the Elections Act 2017, holding elections within 120 days of the expiry of their term was a legal requirement.
It requested the court to declare the ECP’s October 21, 2026 order and election schedule illegal and set them aside. It also sought suspension or postponement of the electoral process until a final decision on the matter and fresh delimitation in accordance with the law.
According to the petition, the ECP had scheduled the submission of nomination papers from November 2 to 6, 2026, while polling for local government elections was set for December 20, 2026.
The petitioner alleged that the commission intended to conduct the elections on the basis of outdated delimitations.
The petition traced the delimitation process, stating that the ECP had issued a delimitation schedule on December 12, 2024. On December 26, 2025, it announced a fresh election programme, setting February 15, 2026, as the polling date. However, the programme was subsequently withdrawn following changes in the legal framework.
The petition stated that final lists issued through Form 09 on October 14, 2026, showed 130 union councils under three town corporations, whereas the Islamabad Local Government Act 2015 provided for 125 union councils and 1,125 general wards.
The petitioner sought judicial determination of the legal and institutional framework governing delimitation in Islamabad before the local government elections could proceed.
In view of the foregoing, it is prayed that this court may be pleased to call for the complete official record of the 2015 Act and 2026 delimitation exercises, including preliminary and final union-council and ward lists, maps, population data, objection decisions, Gazette notifications, all instruments of supersession, revocation or re-adoption, the 21 October 2026 order and detailed reasons, and the decision and notification identifying the scheme selected for this election.
The counsel also requested the court to direct respondents Nos. 2 to 4, 8 and 9, with assistance from respondent No. 1 and relevant authorities, to file within a period fixed by this court a reasoned, document-supported statement of the law presently in force, the territorial limits and any statutory exclusion of local areas, and the existing allocation of planning, municipal, service-delivery, financial and administrative functions among CDA, MCI, ICT Administration and relevant housing authorities, identifying any actual unresolved conflict bearing upon the election.
He further requested to seek information from respondent No. 10 only to the extent a specified area within ICT is shown to be relevant, declare the 21 October 2026 order and consequential programme without lawful authority and set aside the particular action only to the extent that this court finds that it implements an earlier delimitation which was legally displaced and lacks authority for renewed use, or otherwise rests upon an identified operative scheme inconsistent with law, if the Court finds the selected scheme cannot lawfully be used, and such relief is available notwithstanding section 7(3)(d) and other objections.
Qazi also prayed to direct respondent No. 1 to undertake and complete fresh delimitation of the relevant union councils and required wards under the law and rules then in force, with the required notice, objections, decisions and final notification, postpone or hold in abeyance the impugned election programme for no longer than is necessary to address the established legal defect and complete any fresh exercise ordered; direct the Election Commission to issue a revised, definite programme and hold elections at the earliest lawful opportunity.
He also said that alternatively, grant a short, defined deferral, if legally justified, for the court to ascertain the operative statutory and institutional position and any immediate legislative development, and thereafter direct the Election Commission to proceed under the law then in force and applicable transitional provisions.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026