Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold local government elections in the capital on December 31.

IHC’s Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir accepted the petitions of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) seeking to nullify ECP’s decision to postpone the local government elections.

The election commission had deferred the polls after the federal government increased the number of union councils (UCs) in the capital without taking ECP into confidence.

Before reserving the verdict, the court had expressed displeasure over the federal government’s attitude and voiced its reservations over the “waste of money” if the polls were not held on time.