Islamabad, 12 November, 2026 (Kamran Raja): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has reserved its verdict on the maintainability of a petition seeking to halt local government elections in the federal capital, observing that declaring an expenditure of just Rs1 million after spending millions of rupees on an election was alarming. Justice Umer Mijaz Malik heard the petition filed by Chaudhry Amjad Ali and also reserved a decision on a miscellaneous application seeking suspension of the local government election schedule. During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel, Adil Aziz Qazi, argued that new delimitation was carried out in 2024, followed by the announcement of an election schedule, but a new Local Government Ordinance was introduced in 2026. He informed the court that the ordinance, after approval by the federal cabinet, had been sent to Parliament and that its introduction had led to the withdrawal of the previous election schedule and cancellation of the earlier delimitation. He further argued that the Local Government Act provides for one Metropolitan Corporation, whereas the new ordinance proposes three, and the election schedule was subsequently issued without restoring the previous delimitation. The court questioned under which legal order the new delimitation had been conducted. The petitioner’s counsel maintained that union councils and wards had been mixed up in the constituencies where elections were scheduled to take place. He pointed out that one ward had only two registered voters, whereas at least three individuals were required for the nomination process, including the candidate, proposer and seconder. Justice Malik asked whether the proposer and seconder were required to belong to the same ward or could be from the entire union council. The counsel replied that both had to be from the same ward, prompting the judge to question how elections could be held in a ward with only two individuals. The court also asked the counsel to identify the relevant legal provision supporting this requirement. The lawyer said he would provide the provision later. He further argued that voter lists had not been provided by the time the election schedule was announced, leaving voters unaware of the wards in which their names had been registered. He said only a small number of candidates had submitted nomination papers, after which the deadline was extended to November 8. The court questioned whether the process was being conducted hastily and in violation of the law. Seeking suspension of the election process, the counsel argued that if the schedule was not halted immediately, candidates could incur substantial expenses before the court reached a decision. In response, Justice Malik observed that the court could not be held responsible if individuals chose to spend millions of rupees, adding that it was particularly alarming if millions were spent on elections but only Rs1 million was declared as expenditure. After hearing the petitioner’s arguments, the court reserved its verdict on whether the petition seeking suspension of the local government elections was maintainable.