Karachi: Sindh High Court (SHC) has ordered issuing notices to respondents including Attorney General Pakistan and Advocate General Sindh with direction to file comments regarding a constitutional petition filed by Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor against quota system in Pakistan.In this regard a court order said: It is contended, inter alia, on behalf of the petitioner that the period prescribed in the first Proviso of Article 27 (1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan , 1973 for reserving posts for persons belonging to any class or area to secure their adequate representation service in Pakistan, has expired long ago, but the said Proviso is being still applied to persons applying for the posts in the service of Pakistan. It is urged that such restriction is discriminatory and contrary to the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution to the citizens of Pakistan to join the service of Pakistan. In support of his above mentioned contention the counsel of the petitioner has placed on record statement dated 29.09.2020 along with the copies of several memorandums and notifications. Upon filing amended title, issue notice to the respondents, as well as, to the learned Attorney General of Pakistan at Islamabad and learned Advocate General Sindh with direction to file comments before the next date of hearing, to be held in January 2021.In his petition, Altaf Shakoor had submitted that the human capital is the most important asset of any society and conducting periodical national census is important to compile a numerical profile of this human capital and conduct national planning and related decision-making processes at all levels on the basis of this data. He submitted that the Constitution of Pakistan gives an obligation of conducting census after every 10 years.He submitted that the first census was held after the independence of the country in 1951, the second in 1961, and the third in 1972. The fourth population census was scheduled to be conducted in March 1981 and the fifth one was due in 1991 but could be held in 1998. The recent sixth census was held in April 2017 as per the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. It began on 15 March 2017 and ended on 25 May 2017. It was conducted by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.The petitioner submitted that, though the process was completed on time, but the provisional results were delayed by a month. Resultantly, different political parties raised questions about the credibility of the results.The petitioner said that the census results also play a crucial role in the parliamentary democracy. The Article 51(5) of the Constitutional of Pakistan 1973 says: “The seats in the National Assembly shall be allocated to each Province, the Federally Administration Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital on the basis of population in accordance with the last preceding census officially published.”That, the population census has always been contentious in Pakistan as political parties in smaller provinces, especially Sindh, believe that their numbers have been manipulated to deny them their rightful share in federal resources. Due to the similar reservations allegations about procedural flaws, the results of an earlier census, held in 2011 were annulled.That, these reservations and allegations consequently resulted into judicial intervention, and the authorities were directed to conduct 2017 national population census with army’s tacit support. That, like past this time also different political parties expressed reservations over the validity of the census data, especially in Sindh, due to the absence of a post-enumeration survey.The petitioner submitted that as the elected local bodies have already completed their term on 29th August, 2020, and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is under an obligation to hold the next local government elections within 120 days after the expiry of the term of elected local government bodies, i.e., 29th August, 2020.That, as the delimitation of parliamentary seats is going to be based on this census, non-redressal of the reservations of political parties and delay in final results has put a big question mark on holding of local bodies elections, especially in Sindh. That, the completion of the process of 5 percent validation exercise of the 6th national census and announcement of its results is still pending.The Petitioner prayed that in the larger interest of the public and to ensure uphold of law, supremacy of Constitution and continuity of democratic process in Pakistan: The honorable court may please order completion of the post-enumeration audit of five per cent census blocks of the 6th national population census at the earliest.He further prayed to order, announcement of the final results of the 6th national population census at the earliest. He prayed to order announcing the new delimitation of constituencies, based on the final results of the 2017. He also prayed to order the holding of the new local bodies elections in Pakistan including Sindh as per their schedule, which is within 120 days after the expiry of the term of elected local government bodies, i.e., 29th August, 2020.
