' QAZI FAEZ ISA, C J.---This petition assails the Balochistan Local Government (Amendment) Act, 2014 (published in the Balochistan of 97th January 90141 which amended the Balochistan Local Government Act, 2010 (hereinafter "the Amendment Act" and "the Act" respectively) and the Government of Balochistan, Local Government, Rural Development and Agrovilles Department's Notification No .571/2010-13 (BLCEC)/1640-1704 dated 4th February 2014 that made amendments in the Balochistan Local Government (Election) Rules, 2013 (hereinafter the "impugned Rules" and "the Rules" respectively).
2. The Amendment Act added two new categories in the reserved special interests seats, which comprised of women, workers and peasants, by including 'professional' and 'social worker' therein.
In this regard section 12 of the Act was amended; the said section as it stood before and after the amendment is reproduced hereunder respectively: Section 12 of the Act as it was before the amendment: "12. Representation of women, workers and peasants.--(1) A Local Council may have women members from the local area, elected to the council in the prescribed manner, whose number shall be 33% of the number of general members subject to a minimum of one such member.
(2). A Local Council may have members representing peasants and workers from the local area, elected to the council in the prescribed manner, whose number, in each category, shall be 5% of the number of general members subject to a minimum of one member under each category.
(3). Nothing contained in subsections (1) and (2) shall prevent the member of the special interest groups mentioned in the said subsection from being elected to the general seats in any Local Council from that local area."
Section 12 of the Act as it became after the amendment:
12. Representation of women, workers, peasants, professionals and social workers.--
(1) A Local Council may have women members from the local area, elected to the council in the prescribed manner, whose number shall be 33% of the number of general members subject to a minimum of one such member.
(2) A Local Council may have members representing peasants prescribed manner, whose number, shall be 5% of the number of general members subject to a minimum of one member.
(2-A) a Local Council may have members representing Professionals and Social Workers from the local area, elected to the Council in the prescribed manner, whose numbers, shall be 5% of the number of general members subject to a minimum of one member.
(3) Nothing contained in subsections (1), (2) and (2-A) shall prevent the member of the special interest groups mentioned in the said subsection from being elected to the general seats in any Local Council from that local area."
' The definition section of the Act was also amended to attend to the definition of 'professional' and 'social worker' by respectively inserting clauses (liv-a) and (lxx-a) in subsection (1) of Section 2 of the Act, reproduced hereunder: "(liv-a) "Professional" means a person who belongs to the professions of doctors, engineers, nurses, lawyers, agriculture experts, business experts, technicians etc certified by a recognized institution."
"(lxx-a) "Social Worker" means any person who is a member of a voluntary social welfare agency registered under the Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies (Registration and Control) Ordinance, 1961 (Ordinance No. XLVI of 1961)."
3. That the impugned Rules amended the Rules to attend to the added categories of 'professional' and 'social worker'. Subsection (5) of Rule 63 of the Rules was also amended to do away with secret balloting for the election of chairman and vice chairman of local councils. Rule 63(5) as it stood before and after amendment is reproduced hereunder: Pre-amendment Rule 63(5): "(5) When the ballot papers have been cast, the Presiding Officer shall open the ballot box in presence of the members and count the votes cast in favour of each candidate, and if there is any doubt or dispute about the marking of a ballot paper, the Presiding Officer may decide the issue, after holding such summary inquiry, on the spot, as may be necessary."
Post-amendment Rule 63(5): "(5) When the members have cast their, votes, by raising or Presiding Officer shall count the votes cast in favour of each contesting candidate and enter into the register maintained under rule 60 of these Rules."
' Forms XX, XXI and XXII prescribed in the Rules were also amended to cater to the newly added categories of 'social worker' and 'professional' and Form XXIV, which prescribed the 'Ballot Paper' for the election of chairman and vice chairman omitted from the Rules.
4. Mr. H. Shakil Ahmed, learned counsel for the petitioners, stated that the petitioner No.1, is an elected member of a local council, petitioner No.2 is contesting elections on the reserved seat of peasants and petitioner No.3 is a voter of the area. He referred to the history of the local government laws as under: ' Balochistan People's Local Government Ordinance, 1972 (PLD 1972 Balochistan Statutes 38)
' Balochistan Local Government Act, 1975 (PLD 1976 Balochistan Statues 19)
' Balochistan Local Government Ordinance, 1980 (Balochistan Code Volume III 891)
' Balochistan Local Government Election Ordinance, 2000 (PLD 2001 Balochistan Statutes 4)
' Balochistan Local Government Election Ordinance, 2001 (PLD 2002 Supplement Balochistan Statutes 79) and ' Balochistan Local Government Act, 2010 (PLD 2010 (Supplement) Balochistan Statutes 27)
' The learned counsel stated that there was no provision for reserved seats in respect of special interests in the 1972 Ordinance, but thereafter all the local government laws had special interest seats for women, workers and peasants; the reason for introducing the same was Article 32 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 ("the Constitution") reproduced hereunder: "32. Promotion of local Government institution.--The State shall encourage local Government institutions composed of elected representatives of the areas concerned and in such institutions special representation will be given to peasants, workers and women."
' The learned counsel for the petitioners further stated that the Constitution framers wanted to encourage the deprived and depressed Constitution. Significantly, in Article 32 neither social workers nor professionals were mentioned as they cannot be categorized as handicapped or oppressed classes and as the said classes can include the very rich and powerful. In none of the other provinces of Pakistan the law has been amended to expand the reserved special interest seats to accommodate social workers and professionals and, according to the learned counsel, by including the same in Balochistan is illegal and unconstitutional.
' Reliance was also placed upon the following cases: ' Chamber of Commerce and Industry v. Director-General, QDA (PLD 2012 Balochistan 31)
' Muhammad Kamran Mullahkhail v. Government of Balochistan (PLD 2012 Balochistan 57)
' Nasreen Khetran v. Government of Balochistan (PLD 2012 Balochistan 214)
' President Balochistan High Court Bar Association v. Federation of Pakistan (2014 SCMR 1)
5. That with regard to doing away with the secret ballot for the election of chairman and vice chairman of local councils Mr. Shakil Ahmed referred to Article 140A of the Constitution, inserted pursuant to the Eighteenth Amendment, and stated that through this amendment the Constitution for the first time mandates local governments to whom political, administrative and financial responsibility is required to be devolved through their elected representatives; and that it is a feature of elections to be able to cast votes freely in a secret ballot without being influenced in any manner. Article 140A is reproduced hereunder: "140A. (1) Each Province shall, by law, establish a local government system and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to the elected representatives of the local governments.
(2) Elections to the local governments shall be held by the Election Commission of Pakistan."
' He also relied upon Article 226 of the Constitution and contended that as local government elections are referred to in the Constitution (Article 140A) such elections are now deemed to be held under the Constitution, therefore, such elections too have to be by secret ballot. Article 226 of the Constitution states, that: "226. Election by secret ballot.--All elections under the Constitution, other than those of the Prime Minister and Chief Minister, shall be by secret ballot."
6. Mr. Tariq Ali Tahir, learned Additional Advocate General ("AAG"), stated that the local government elections are not being held "under the Constitution" and that Article 140A of the Constitution was inserted simply to ensure that local government elections take place, as previously governments did not hold the same. He further stated that there was no harm in the creation of special interest seats in respect of social workers and professionals. Mr. Muhammad Qahir Shah, Advocate stated that he had been engaged by the respondent No.1 and had also filed comments on behalf of the respondent No.1 . He adopted the arguments of the learned AAG and stated that the representation of women, workers and peasants remained therefore it cannot be stated that Article 32 had been violated. Reliance was also placed by him on the case of Nazar Muhammad Barrich v. Election Commission of Pakistan (PLD 2002 Quetta 1) and Federation of Pakistan v Muhammad Saifullah Khan (PLD 1989 Supreme Court 166). He further contended that the petitioners have no locus standi to assail the amendments made in the law as they were not contesting on the seat of social worker or professional. During the course of arguments he also filed certain documents including the 'Statement of Objectives and Reasons' put forward by the provincial minister for local government at the time of submitting of the bill in the Balochistan Assembly. There is also a document listing the total number of seats in the province of Balochistan in the different special interest categories, that mentions 743 seats under the category of social workers and professionals out of which 345 had already been occupied unopposed. Mr. Qahir Shah stated that in respect of those who have come in unopposed vested rights have accrued and it would not be appropriate to strike down the Amendment Act and the impugned Rules without affording them an opportunity of a hearing.
7. That the local government elections were long overdue and the province of Balochistan has the singular distinction of having held the first phase of election to the general seats on 7th December 2013, whilst the other provinces lag behind. However, the process of the local government elections has as yet not concluded, as elections on the reserved special interest seats have not taken place, which are scheduled to take place on 29th May 2014, where after election of the chairman and vice chairman of the local councils are to take place, the date of which has not been notified as yet.
8. The scheme of the Act is such that the number of general members of each local council is determined on the basis of population (section 10), non-Muslim members are "fixed by the Government (section 11) and the number of women "shall be 33% of the number of general members" (subsection (1) of section 12). Prior to the amendments made by the Amendment Act peasants were "5% of the number of general members" and workers were also "5% of the number of general members" (subsection (2) of section 12), i.e. a combined strength of 10%, however, after the amendment the category of both peasants and workers together has been reduced to 5% and the newly added category of social workers and professionals has been awarded "5% of the number of general members" (subsection (2-A) of section 12). In other words the social workers and professionals have taken away half the seats of the peasants and workers.
9. Why the seats reserved for peasants and workers have been halved, and why have social workers and professionals been given their seats? The preamble of the Amendment Act states that it is being done because "it is expedient"! The 'Statement of Objects and Reasons' signed by Mr. Ghulam Mustafa Khan Tareen, the Provincial Minister for Local Government, states, that: "Balochistan Local Government Act, 2010 (Sections 11 and 12) provides for representation of women, peasants, workers and minorities against quota reserved for each category and 33% seats are reserved for women and 5% each for the remaining three categories.
2. The Local Government Department suggests amendment in Sections 2 and 12 of Balochistan Local Government Act, 2010 that the categories of peasants and workers should be clubbed together as one category and a new category of professionals/social workers may be provided representation in the Local Councils of the Province to ensure a wider representation in the local councils. Likewise minor amendments/corrections have also been suggested in Sections 10, 18 and 27 of the Balochistan Local Government Act, 2010.
3. The Provincial Cabinet has approved these amendments in the Balochistan Local Government Act, 2010 in its meeting held on 9th January, 2014, therefore, these are placed before the Provincial Assembly for approval and enactment."
' The only additional information that can be gleaned from the above is that it was done "to ensure a wider representation". The `Summary for Cabinet' expands a bit more, and states that it was to, "ensure a wider representation in the local councils, as most of the areas of the, Province don't have an industrial base and hence workers in the rural areas [sic] whereas there are no peasants in the urban areas [sic]."
10. That 'equality of citizens' is one of the important 'Fundamental Rights' (Article 25 of Chapter 1 of Part II) enshrined in the Constitution. Article 8 of the Constitution stipulates that, any law in so far as it is inconsistent with any fundamental rights shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void. The question therefore for examination is whether the Amendment Act violates the 'equality of citizens'
(Article 25) provision and is therefore void. The very concept of having reserved seats, where a candidate does not have to face the rigors of a general election, contravenes the equality principle. However, the framers of the Constitution consciously wanted to provide equal opportunity to all and this was done by what some refer to as positive discrimination and others as affirmative action. In this regard sub-Article (3) of Article 25 stipulates that, "Nothing in this Article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the protection of women." Similarly, Article 32 (though it is not in the Fundamental Rights chapter of the Constitution) stipulates that in local government institutions, "special representation will be given to peasants, workers and women." The Constitution makers, however, chose not to protect, encourage or give a benefit to either social workers or professionals; then can the provincial legislature do so? And can the equality of citizens' principle be violated when there isn't a stipulated category for 'social worker' or 'professional' that the Constitution seeks to protect or encourage? A resounding no, is the short and simple answer. Creating a special interest group for social workers and professionals is a suspect classification and not compatible with the constitutional principles of equality.
11. The Act (before its amendment), recognized that only certain persons required protection and encouragement, respectively non-Muslims, women, peasants and workers; a number of constitutional provisions specifically mention these classes. The State is permitted to make "special provision for the protection of women" (sub-Article (3) of Article 25). The State is also required to ensure that "special representation will be given to peasants, workers and women" in local government institutions (Article 32). And "steps shall be taken to ensure full participation of women in all spheres of national life" (Article 34). To "safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities" (Article 36) is yet another obligation.
12. That the socially and/or economically deprived and/or discriminated sectors of society (non- Muslims, women, peasants and workers) have received special mention in the Constitution to enable them to overcome the discriminatory and traditional barriers that denied them the right to exercise franchise effectively and thereby to empower compensatory justice aimed at alleviating deprivation, not at the cost of others but to create a level playing field. The framers of the Constitution inserted these specific clauses in the Constitution to weed out bias, prejudice and discrimination, to diminish unfairness and to attain to a just society.
13. The Constitution, however, does not make mention of social workers and professionals probably because these as classes (if at all they can be categorized as such) are not subject to bias, prejudice, discrimination, nor suffer deprivation. The legitimacy of preferential treatment can be assessed. No reason has been provided to give social workers and professionals preferential treatment. Preferential treatment that is not victim-specific is never permissible. However, even if a case could be made out to justify giving special treatment to social workers and professionals it would not be sustainable as it would be in contravention of the Constitution. The provincial legislature, with great respect, did not consider whether the new categories that they were setting out to create were compatible with the Constitution.
15(sic). The contention of Mr. Qahir Shah that vested rights have accrued in all those who have returned unopposed on the reserved seats of social workers and professionals rings hollow since vested rights cannot be created in favour of the privileged by taking away the rights of the underprivileged. The five percent representation that social workers and professionals got was by halving the subsisting rights of peasants and workers. Moreover, occupying an elected seat unopposed means that the occupier did virtually nothing (including no canvassing no reaching out to the electors) to get it. Learned counsel's other objection with regard to standing (or locus standi) too is not sustainable. In this regard reference may be made to the judgment of this court in the case of Muhammad Kamran Mulakhail v. Government of Balochistan (PLD 2012 Balochistan 57) wherein we had carefully considered the very same objection when a lawyer had assailed a law which did not directly affect him, and had held that: "It is preferable that if any law, which may impact upon any inalienable human right, is assailed sooner rather than later if it be deemed to have been enacted in contravention of the Constitution.
In the case of Pakistan human rights are categorized as 'Fundamental Rights' in the Constitution.
The certainty of the applicability of laws also requires that laws, the constitutionality of which is suspect, are assailed at the earliest. Ensuring compliance of laws with human rights / Fundamental Rights and certitude of laws forms the bedrock of civilized society; in such societies everyone knows their obligations..."
"Therefore, public spirited persons, including lawyers, acting bona fide in the public interest, may assail such laws. The Constitution, including the Fundamental Rights enshrined therein, must not be permitted to be trampled upon, and if a public-spirited person acting in the public interest brings the same to the High Court's attention he should not be discouraged. This court, in the case of Balochistan Bar Association v. Government of Balochistan, PLD 1991 Quetta 7, held that the High Court was empowered to examine the vires of the Civil Law (Special Procedure) Ordinance I of 1968 and the Criminal-Law (Special Procedure) Ordinance II of 1968 on the touchstone of the Constitution. The petition was filed by the late Mr.Muhammad Nawaz Marri Advocate (as he then was), in his capacity as President of the Balochistan Bar Association. The appeal against the said judgment of the Balochistan High Court was dismissed by the Supreme Court (PLD 1993 Supreme Court 341). A more recent example of the courts exercising jurisdiction and striking down a law when approached by public-spirited citizens is the case of Mobashir Hassan v. Federation of Pakistan, PLD 2010 Supreme Court 265, wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance, 2007 ("NRO"). The petitioner, Mr. Mobashir Hassan was neither a beneficiary of the NRO nor had been denied its benefit and therefore not an 'aggrieved person' in the narrow sense; but such purported lack of locus standi did not impede his right to approach the court" (page 71C).
"13. Neither the learned Advocate General nor Dr. Ranjha have attributed any ulterior personal agenda or motive to the petitioners, nor have we discerned any, thus we can only conclude that they have approached this court to assist their fellow citizens in leading their lives in the glow of the Constitution and to enjoy the rights provided therein. The courts have opened its doors to such persons and categorized petitions seeking enforcement of Fundamental Rights as public interest litigation and not insisted on the applicability of the strict rules of locus standi" (page 72).
' In the present case the petitioners are to be directly effected by the Amendment Act and the impugned Rules, therefore their right to file the petition is greater and they cannot be non-suited on the ground of standing.
16. We now consider the legality and constitutionality of the impugned Rules that have done away with the secret ballot for the appropriate to reproduce sections 13, 14 and 15 of the Act, which attend to the manner of voting generally and also with regard to the voting for the said two posts: "13. Franchise and Wards.--(1) Save as otherwise provided, election of members of all local councils shall be held on the basis of adult franchise and on the basis of joint electorate through secret ballot.
(2) Government may, for the purpose of election, divide a local area into such number of Wards having a definite boundary as it may determine.
(3) The wards may be multi-member or single-member as may be specified by Government.
(4) Every voter within the ward shall have only one vote irrespective of the number of members to be elected from the electoral unit.
14. Election of Chairmen of Local Councils.- For every Local Council there shall be a Chairman who shall be elected in the prescribed manner: ' Provided that the Chairman of Metropolitan Corporation may be designated as Mayor.
15. Election of Vice Chairmen.--For every Local Council there shall be a Vice Chairman who shall be elected in the prescribed manner, and shall perform the functions of the Convenor of the Local Council: ' Provided that the Vice Chairman of Metropolitan Corporation may be designated as Deputy Mayor: ' Provided further that the Vice Chairman shall not exercise the executive authority of the Local Council."
' Rules 30 (4), 33, 55 (3) and 63 (1) of the Rules prior to amendment are also reproduced hereunder: "30(4) The Presiding Officer shall make such arrangements at the polling station as may enable every voter to cast his vote secretly.
33. Election by Secret Ballot.--An election under these rules shall be decided by secret ballot and every voter shall cast his vote by inserting a ballot paper in Form XII in the ballot box accordance with the provision of these rules.
55(3) The provisions of Chapter IV in regard to the polls shall, mutatis mutandis as far as may be, apply to the polls under this chapter, except that the result of count shall be prepared in Form XXII.
63(1) Votes for the office of the Chairman and Vice Chairman shall be cast by secret ballot."
' From the aforesaid provisions it is clear the Act and the Rules (before their amendment by the impugned Rules) required holding of secret ballot.
17. The Act provides that the election of members shall be by secret ballot however with regard to the voting of chairman and vice chairman voting shall be "in the prescribed manner." The question that arises is whether the prescribed manner can be by a show of hands, i.e. By the members revealing who they are voting for. The present process of the local government elections, under which general member elections were held on 7th December 2013, and which shall continue till the special interest seats are filled-in and thereafter chairman and vice chairman of local council are elected, are the first local government elections that are being held after the insertion of Article 140A in the Constitution, therefore, it needs consideration whether such elections can be categorized as being held "under the Constitution." If such elections can be categorized as being held under the Constitution the proscription under Article 226 of the Constitution will apply, which is that elections, "shall be by secret ballot". This question has, to the best of our knowledge, not been considered by any court as yet.
18. That the matter of secret ballots however has been attended to in a few cases. In the case of Muhammad Salah-ud-Din v Government of Pakistan (PLD 1990 FSC 1) the Federal Shariat Court repelled the contention that secret ballots were in any manner un-Islamic. It also referred to Article 226 of the Constitution and recommended that, "The sections for secrecy of ballot [in the law] may, therefore, be retained" (at pages 25-26L). The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Abdul Majeed Khan v. District Returning Officer (2006 SCMR 1713) dilated upon the concept of secret ballots and it would be useful to reproduce the following portion from its decision: "This procedure has been provided in order to ensure the sanctity of the secret ballot, otherwise if a voter is allowed to put in front of the candidate's choice any other visible mark (by the candidate in whose favour the votes have been cast) than it would lose its sanctity as it would be against the concept of electing a representative by means of secret ballot and if such holding the election as then it would become a selection by means of open balloting, which is not the object of the Constitution or the law relating to the Election" (page 1723E).
19. The Government in its reply advanced the following reason to canvass that elections of chairman and vice chairman should be by show of hands: "The main objective and rationality behind the said amendment was to make the process of Election more transparent and fair and to stop the practice of horse-trading....".
' However, with respect, it does not follow that electing chairman and vice chairman by show of hands will "stop the practice of horse trading". On the contrary it may even encourage it. Members could be intimidated or worse their votes purchased and the position of the intimidator/purchaser ensured and secured. Secret balloting however does not deliver a pre-determined result. Will the intimidation work? Will the deal purchasing the vote be honoured? The cloak of secrecy frees the members from intimidation and discourages aspirants to purchase loyalties.
20. There is yet another aspect that makes show-of-hand voting problematic and possibly also open to gross misuse, as everything hangs on the ability and credibility of the presiding officer who "shall count the votes cast and enter into the register maintained under Rule 60" as prescribed in the impugned Rules. What if he made a mistake in counting or did so intentionally. The entry made by him in the said register would be conclusive and there would be no record available for rechecking. It could, however, be contended that the same could happen with regard to the voting of a Prime Minster and Chief Minister, the two exceptions that Article 226 creates. The Constitution, however, consciously created an exception with regard to the election of Prime Minster and Chief Minister, which are conducted in the glare of publicity, including the ever watchful eye of the media.
However, the elections of local councils, with the possible exception of major cities, are local affairs and are not monitored closely.
21. That the impugned Rules, which amended the long standing secret ballot with show-of-hand voting, was not done by the legislature by amending the law, but by the government in exercise of powers under section 141 of the Act, which grants the government the power to "make rules for carrying, out the purposes of this Act" (subsection (1) of section 141 of the Act). Section 13 of the Act that relates to the election of members requires that it must be "through secret ballot". Subsection
(4) of section 16 states, that, "The provisions of the far as these are not inconsistent with this Act, apply to the elections to the local councils under this Act." The government thus relies upon the provisions contained in sections 14 and 15, respectively that the chairman and vice chairman "shall be elected in the prescribed manner"; however, the said provisions do not state that the same will be as prescribed by the Government. To the extent that the very character of the elections, from a secret-ballot to show-of-hand, has changed the said provisions do not suggest that the government had been delegated this power by the legislature.
22. We also need to keep in view another important clause inserted in the Constitution through the Eighteenth Amendment in Article 219 of the Constitution, which sets out the duties of the Election Commission of Pakistan, and now includes in its clause (d) the duty to hold local government elections. Subsection (1) of Section 16 of the Act too states, that, "Elections to the local councils shall be conducted by the Election Commission" and subsection (3) charges the Election Commission to make necessary arrangements to ensure that the election is conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in accordance with law, and that corrupt practices are guarded against". The hithertobefore role of the government to hold and conduct elections has now been given to the Election Commission. A legitimate question can therefore be raised with regard to the government's ability and extent of rule making under the Act; however, we restrain ourselves from doing so as this aspect was not specifically agitated.
23. That from the aforesaid we determine that
(1) That special or reserved seats can only be maintained in respect of a class, segment of society or a minority community that is considered to be downtrodden, impoverished, alienated or discriminated against and who have been specifically mentioned in the Constitution, like non- Muslims, women, peasants and workers;
(2) That social workers and professionals cannot be categorized as a tangible class and one that requires either encouragement or protection as they are not downtrodden, impoverished, alienated or discriminated;
(3) That by taking away the reserved seats of workers and peasants and giving them to social workers and professionals is discriminatory, illegal and violates Article 25 read with Article 32 of the Constitution and the protection and special status accorded to peasants and workers;
(4) The amendment in the impugned Rules whereby the manner of voting of chairman and vice chairman of a local council, from secret-ballot to _show-of-hands, could not be enacted as the A government had not been granted express authority by the Act in this regard;
(5) The Act envisages secret ballot and the impugned Rules requiring voting by show-of-hands for chairman and vice chairman is inconsistent with the Act;
(6) That at the commencement of the electoral process of the local government election those who participated did so on the basis that the chairman and vice chairman would be elected in a particular manner, which was amended before completion of the entire elections, as such the impugned Rules are retrospective in application to such extent, and it is a well-settled principle that subordinate legislation cannot be made to operate retrospectively;
(7) That no cogent reason for enacting the impugned Rules has been put forward and the reason that has been put forward is unreasonable and illogical;
(8) The Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Federal Shariat Court have endorsed the secrecy of ballots; and
(9) Article 140A read with Article 226 of the Constitution mandate elections by secret ballot.
24. Therefore, for the aforesaid reasons we declare that the Balochistan Local Government (Amendment) Act, 2014 is repugnant to the Constitution and void. The Government of Balochistan, Local Government, Rural Development and Agrovilles Department's Notification No.5-1/2010-13 (BLCEC)/1640-1704 dated 4th February, 2014 that made amendments in the Balochistan Local Government (Election) Rules, 2013 was made in excess of jurisdiction, is ultra wires the Act and the Constitution, therefore, it is also declared to be void and of no legal effect. There will however be no order as to costs.