LAHORE: The Lahore High Court Monday issued a stay order regarding local government (LG) elections in Punjab.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) earlier issued schedule for the first phase of local government elections in Punjab and June 9 was set as the polling day. The districts where LG polls were to be held in the first phase include DG Khan, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Khanewal, Vehari, Bahawalpur, Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Toba Tek Singh, Chiniot, Khushab, Sialkot, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Jhelum and Attock.

A two-judge bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued restraining order stopping the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from holding local government elections in Punjab. The court suspended ECP notification regarding local government elections in Punjab and sought a reply from respondents by May 25. The High Court in a previous hearing stayed the schedule for the first phase of the Local Government (LG) election in Punjab on a petition challenging the delimitation in district Khushab.

The petitioner Tariq Iqbal, had challenged a notification issued by the election commission’s delimitation committee on March 12, 2022 deciding objections against the preliminary delimitation for Khushab. The petitioner’s counsel argued that the delimitation committee failed to decide the strong and valid objections.