The Lahore High Court has restrained the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from issuing a gazette notification for the final delimitation of two union councils in Vehari until the next hearing.
Justice Jawad Hassan issued the interim order on a petition filed by Muhammad Nadeem, a voter in Union Council No. 3, challenging changes made to the preliminary delimitation of UCs 3 and 4.
The petitioner’s counsel, Sohail Iqbal Bhatti, told the court that the Vehari Delimitation Committee had published the preliminary delimitation list on May 25, 2026, under the Punjab Local Government (Delimitation of Union Councils) Rules, 2026.
He said the rules provided voters 15 days to submit objections, with the deadline expiring on June 9. However, a resident who was not a voter of either union council submitted objections on June 17, seeking the transfer of two census blocks to UC 3 and another block to UC 4.
The counsel argued that the regional election commissioner subsequently modified the preliminary delimitation on the basis of the late objections.
He contended that the objector lacked legal standing under Rule 9 of the 2026 Rules, which permits only voters of the concerned union council to challenge its delimitation.
The petitioner’s counsel also argued that the modification order failed to provide adequate reasons and was therefore contrary to the Punjab Local Government Act, 2025, which requires a union council to form a single territorial unit.
An ECP law officer challenged the maintainability of the petition.
After hearing the arguments, Justice Jawad Hassan issued notices to the respondents for August 25 and directed them to submit their replies and para-wise comments.
In the interim order, the court restrained the ECP from issuing the gazette notification of the final delimitation lists for UCs 3 and 4 until the next hearing.
