M IANGUL HASSAN AURANGZEB, J:- Through the instant writ petition the petitioner, Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, assails the order dated 18.07.2022 passed by the Election Commission of Pakistan ("E.C.P.") whereby his objections to the proposal made by respondent No.3, Delimitation Committee, E.C.P. with respect to the Provincial Assembly constituencies PB-8 (Sibi) and PB-12 (Kachhi), were turned down.
2. Learned counsel for the petitioner drew the attention of the Court to Section 20(3) of the Elections Act, 2017 ("the 2017 Act") which provides that as far as possible, variation in population of constituencies of an Assembly or a local government shall not ordinarily exceed 10%. He further submitted that the Province of Balochistan has a population of 12,335,129 as per the Census of 2017; that the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan has 51 general seats; and that given the said population, each constituency ought to have a population of 2,41,865. As per the proposal made by the Delimitation Committee, the Provincial Assembly constituency PB-8 (Sibi) has a population of 1,79,751 whereas PB-12 (Kachhi) has a population of 3,09,932. This makes the variation of population in the said two adjacent constituencies to be 42%. The proposal of the petitioner before the Election Commission was that if Sub-Tehsil Balanari (having a population of 43,341) is taken out of PB-12 (Kachhi) and placed in PB-8 (Sibi) then PB-12 (Kachhi) will have a population of 2,66,591 whereas PB-8 (Sibi) will have a population of 2,23,092 which would make the difference in the population of the said two adjacent constituencies to be just 16%. Learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that while rejecting the petitioner's objections to the proposal made by the Delimitation Committee, the E.C.P. did not pay due heed to Section 20(3) of the 2017 Act. Learned counsel for the petitioner prayed for the writ petition to be allowed in terms of the relief sought therein.
3. On the other hand, learned counsel for the E.C.P. submitted that the petitioner is the sole voter in the constituency which has thrown a challenge to the proposal made by the Delimitation Committee; that the delimitation of constituencies is the sole responsibility of the E.C.P. and is based on geographical location of the constituencies as well as population; that for every constituency to have equal population is not practically possible; that the delimitation of constituencies cannot be carried out in accordance with the aspirations of persons intending to contest elections; that a person cannot carve out or delimit a constituency according to his desire; that the variation of the population in the Provincial Assembly constituencies PB-8 (Sibi) and PB-12 (Kachhi) is within the permissible limit; that the delimitation has been carried out in a manner that a Provincial Assembly constituency does not cross the boundaries of administrative districts; and that the principles for delimitation laid down in Section 20 of the 2017 Act have been observed by the E.C.P. in letter and spirit. Learned counsel for the E.C.P. prayed for the writ petition to be dismissed.
4. Syed Qamar Hussain Sabzwari, learned counsel for the intervener, Sardar Zada Deenar Domki, submitted that the petitioner wants SubTehsil Balanari (which is located in District Kachhi) to be taken out of constituency PB-12 (Kachhi) and included in constituency PB-8 (Sibi); that if the proposal made by the petitioner is accepted, one Sub-Tehsil of District Kachhi would be made a part of a Provincial Assembly constituency i.e., PB-8 which is entirely situated in District Sibi; that in this way constituency PB-8 would be in District Sibi as well as in District Kachhi; and that the petitioner's proposal ought not to be accepted otherwise the electorate of Sub-Tehsil Balanari would have the headquarters of the local government in District Kachhi and in all probability would be having an elected representative from District Sibi.
Learned counsel for the Intervener prayed for the writ petition to be dismissed.
5. I have heard the contentions of the learned counsel for the contesting parties as well as learned counsel for the intervener and have perused the record with their able assistance.
6. The petitioner's primary grievance is with respect to the disparity in the population of the Provincial Assembly constituencies of PB-8 (Sibi) and PB-12 (Kachhi). There is no denying the fact that the difference in the population of the said two constituencies is in the region of 42% and if the proposal made by the petitioner is accepted, this difference would be reduced to 16%.
7. Section 20(1) of the 2017 Act requires the delimitation of the constituencies for general seats to be carried out having regard, as far as practicable, to the distribution of population in geographically compact areas, physical features, existing boundaries of administrative units, facilities of communication and public convenience and other cognate factors to ensure homogeneity in the creation of constituencies. Section 20(3) provides that as far as possible, the variation in population of constituencies of an Assembly or a local government shall not ordinarily exceed 10%.
8. The employment of the word "ordinarily" in Section 20(3) of the 2017 Act implies that the legislature did not make it mandatory for the delimitation to be carried out such that the variation in the population of the constituencies does not exceed 10%. Indeed the E.C.P. is to pay heed to the distribution of population but also make efforts for constituencies to remain within the boundaries of administrative units. The E.C.P. is to ensure this "as far as practicable." Rule 10(4) of the Election Rules, 2017 ("the 2017 Rules") also requires the constituency for an Assembly not to ordinarily exceed more than one district except in exceptional circumstances for reasons to be recorded by the Delimitation Committee.
9. In the case at hand, PB-8 (Sibi) is entirely situated in District Sibi whereas PB-12 (Kachhi) is entirely situated in District Kachhi. It is not disputed that the population of District Kachhi far exceeds that of District Sibi. Therefore, the variation in the population of the said two constituencies is understandable. Indeed if the petitioner's proposal is accepted, it would amount to slicing out one Sub-Tehsil of District Kachhi to be made a part of a constituency which is entirely situated in District Sibi. This proposal is neither practicable nor an adequate ground to interfere with the proposal made by the Delimitation Committee. I agree with the contention of the learned counsel for the intervener that the members of the local government in Sub-Tehsil Balanari would have the headquarters in District Kachhi whereas the electorate in the said Sub-Tehsil would be linked with District Sibi for the purposes of elections to the Provincial Assembly.
10. Since I do not find the proposal made by the Delimitation Committee and/or the impugned order dated 18.07.2022 passed by the E.C.P. with respect to the Provincial Assembly constituencies PB-8 (Sibi) and PB-12 (Kachhi) to be repugnant to any provisions of the 2017 Act or the 2017 Rules, the instant petition is dismissed with no order as to costs.