IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN 
(APPELLATE JURISDICTION) 
 
 
PRESENT: 
MR. JUSTICE GULZAR AHMED 
MR. JUSTICE FAISAL ARAB 
 
CIVIL PETITION NO. 367-K OF 2016 
(On appeal against the judgment dated 03.06.2016 
passed by the High Court of Sindh, Sukkur in C.P. No. 
D-2199/2016 
 
 
Haji Khan Bhatti  
… Petitioner 
VERSUS 
 
 
Province of Sindh through Provincial Election Commission and others 
… Respondents 
 
For the Petitioner:  
In person 
 
For Govt. of Sindh: 
Mr. Adnan Karim, Addl. A.G.  
 
 
 
 
Mr. Abdullah Hanjiah, Law Officer, ECP 
 
Date of Hearing:  
02.08.2016 
 
 
 
JUDGMENT 
 
 
 
 
FAISAL ARAB, J.- The petitioner was one of the 
candidates in the Local Government elections nominated on a 
reserved seat for District Council, Naushero Feroz. Upon scrutiny, 
the nomination papers submitted by the petitioner on 07.05.2016 
were rejected by the Returning Officer vide order dated 11.05.2016 
for the reason that the petitioner was an enrolled voter on the 
electoral rolls of the Municipal Committee, Moro, which is a Council 
located in the urban area of District Naushero Feroz and therefore 
cannot be nominated on a reserved seat of the District Council, 
which is constituted for the rural area of District Naushero Feroz. 
Against such decision, the petitioner appealed before the Appellate 
Authority. Before the Appellate forum, the petitioner’s case was that 
Civil Petition No. 367-K/2016 
2
to contest election on a reserved seat of District Council, the 
provisions of Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 impose no 
restriction that a candidate must be an enrolled voter of the rural 
area of the District. Petitioner’s appeal before the Appellate Authority 
was dismissed on the same ground that prevailed with the Returning 
Officer i.e. the petitioner was not enrolled as a voter in any electoral 
roll of a Ward that falls in the rural area of the District Naushero 
Feroz. In reaching such conclusion, the Appellate Authority placed 
reliance on the provisions of Section 35 (1) (c) of the Sindh Local 
Government Act, 2013. Having failed to seek any relief from the 
Appellant Authority, the petitioner filed Constitution Petition before 
the High Court of Sindh. The High Court in its decision kept the 
distinction between the urban and rural areas of the District and 
held that the petitioner, a voter of a Council of an urban area, was 
not eligible to contest election on a reserved seat of District Council, 
which is constituted for the rural area only. Based on such reasoning 
the High Court dismissed the Constitution Petition vide impugned 
judgment dated 03.06.2016. Hence, this petition for leave to appeal. 
 
2. 
 
The petitioner, who appeared in person, argued that 
irrespective of the fact that he is an enrolled voter of the Municipal 
Committee, Moro which is a Council constituted for urban area of 
District Naushero Feroz, he stills qualifies as no provision of Sindh 
Local Government Act, 2013 imposes restriction that a candidate for 
a reserved seat of District Council must be enrolled as a voter on the 
electoral roll of a Council meant for the rural area of the District. 
According to him, a candidate would still qualify to contest elections 
for such seat if he is enrolled as a voter on the electoral rolls of any 
Civil Petition No. 367-K/2016 
3
Council located in the entire District, be it in rural area or urban. We 
proceed to examine the issue raised before us by the petitioner.  
 
3. 
 
The very purpose of establishing local government 
system is to extend representation of the people in the governance to 
the grass root level. For establishing local government system in 
Sindh, the Government has been empowered under Section 15 of the 
Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 to categorize a District into urban 
and rural areas, if it is not already so categorized. The urban area of 
a District is divisible into various Councils such as a Union 
Committee, a Town Committee, Municipal Committee, a Municipal 
Corporation and a Metropolitan Corporation, depending upon the 
municipal status of its urban areas. The rural area of a District is 
divided into Union Councils for each Union and a District Council. 
After dividing a District into various Councils as aforesaid, each 
Council is assigned a particular local area. The local area of each 
Council is then further divided into Wards, each having its definite 
locality. The voters of each Ward of a Council constitute its basic 
electoral unit, who elect members from their respective Wards on the 
basis of adult franchise. Apart from electing members directly, the 
Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 also provides that certain 
Councils would have reserved seats as well. Such Councils are Town 
Committees, Municipal Committees, District Municipal Corporations, 
Municipal Corporations, Metropolitan Corporations and District 
Councils. The members on the reserved seats of such Councils are to 
be elected by the members who have been directly elected on such 
Councils as these directly elected members constitute the Electoral 
College for electing members on the reserved seats.  
  
Civil Petition No. 367-K/2016 
4
 
4. 
 
Chapter V of the Sindh Local Councils (Election) Rules, 
2015 deals with the elections to the reserved seats of the Councils.  
Rule 50(1) of the said Rules prescribes the basic requirement for 
nominating a candidate for electing him as a member of the Council 
on its reserved seats. It reads; “Any member of the electoral college 
may nominate and any other such member may second any candidate 
whose name is entered in the electoral rolls and is eligible for the 
election to the reserved seats.” It can be seen from the provisions of 
Rule 50(1) that it is a fundamental requirement that only such 
person can be nominated for the reserved seats of a Council, who is 
enrolled as a voter in the electoral rolls. The question that has come 
to be addressed by this Court is that where a candidate intends to 
contest election on a reserved seat of a District Council then his 
name ought to be entered in which electoral rolls in order to make 
him eligible for nomination? Is it the electoral rolls of the entire 
Revenue District, including its urban as well as rural areas or only 
the electoral rolls of rural area for which a District Council is 
constituted in a revenue District? Section 15(b) (ii) of Sindh Local 
Councils Act, 2013 provides that a District Council is to be 
constituted for rural area of a District. This question can be answered 
by interpreting the provision of Section 35 (1) (c) of the Sindh Local 
Government Act, 2013. Section 35 (1) (c) of the Sindh Local 
Government Act, 2013 provides that a person shall not be qualified to 
be elected or chosen as a member of the Council unless he is enrolled 
as a voter in the electoral rolls of the Council or Ward. When Section 
35 (1) (c) states that a candidate has to be enrolled as a voter in the 
electoral rolls of the Council or Ward, it uses two separate terms i.e. 
‘the Council’ as well as ‘Ward’.  In our view these two terms have been 
Civil Petition No. 367-K/2016 
5
used to deal with two distinct situations. Where a member for a 
Council is to be directly elected from a Ward on the basis of adult 
franchise of the electors then the candidate has to be enrolled as a 
voter of that particular Ward, otherwise his candidature would be 
liable to be rejected, hence the term ‘Ward’ has been used in clause 
(c) of Section 35 (1) for such candidates. On the other hand, where a 
member is to be elected for a reserved seat of a particular Council by 
its electoral college then the requirement is that such candidate must 
be enrolled as a voter from any of the Wards falling within the local 
limits of such Council. It is for this reason that the term ‘the Council’ 
has also been used in Section 35(1) (c). Mere use of the term ‘Ward’ 
for the election on reserved seat would not have been adequate as the 
members on the reserved seats of a Council are not elected by any 
particular Ward but by the electoral college of the Council, which 
comprise of its directly elected members. Section 35(1) (c) clearly 
deals with these two different situations.  
 
5. 
 
From the above discussion it is evident that the mandate 
of Section 35(1) (c) of the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 is that 
where a member is to be directly elected from a Ward of a Council 
then unless he is an enrolled voter of that very Ward, he cannot be a 
candidate from that particular Ward, the reason being that in case of 
direct election on the basis of adult franchise, every Ward of a 
Council should have its own representative on the Council. This is 
precisely the object with which Wards have been created. On the 
other hand, where a member is to be indirectly elected on a reserved 
seat of a Council by its electoral college then unless he is an enrolled 
voter of any of the Wards falling within the local limits of that 
Council, he would not be qualified to contest the election, the reason 
Civil Petition No. 367-K/2016 
6
being that every member who is to be indirectly elected on a reserved 
seat of a Council should be an enrolled voter of the area which falls 
with the constituency of that very Council. The representation on a 
reserved seat has to be from the local limits of that very Council and 
not from outside its area. No person can seek his election on a 
reserved seat of a Council unless he is enrolled as a voter in the 
electoral rolls of any of the Wards that fall within the limits of such 
Council. One who is not enrolled as a voter in any locality of 
Council’s constituency, cannot be regarded as a true representative 
of that Council and, therefore, has not been allowed to be a candidate 
for its reserved seat by virtue of the provisions of Section 35(1)(c) of 
the Sindh Local Councils Act, 2013. Thus where a member is to be 
directly elected from a Ward, his enrollment in that particular Ward 
is a mandatory requirement and where a member is to be indirectly 
elected, his enrollment in the local limits of that very constituency of 
the Council is a mandatory requirement. As the constituency of a 
District Council under Section 15 (b) (ii) of Sindh Local Government 
Act, 2013 is rural area of a District only and not beyond that, a 
candidate on its reserved seat must be an enrolled voter of any of the 
Wards falling in the rural area of the District. Only such candidate 
would qualify to contest election on a reserved seat and not the one 
who is an enrolled voter of a Council from urban area of the District. 
The electoral college of any Council does not enjoy the liberty to 
nominate a person on its reserved seat who is not an enrolled voter of 
any of the Wards falling within the local limits of such Council. Any 
nomination that is contrary to such a mode, would be in breach of 
the provisions of Section 35 (1) (c) read with Rule 50(1) of the Sindh 
Local Councils (Election) Rules, 2015 and would thus invalidate his 
candidature.  
Civil Petition No. 367-K/2016 
7
 
6. 
 
We conclude that the petitioner, being a voter of 
Municipal Committee, Moro, District Noushero Feroz, which is a 
Council in urban area of the District, on account of the restriction 
contained in Section 35 (1) (c) of the Sindh Local Government Act, 
2013 cannot stand as a candidate on the reserved seat of District 
Council, Noushero Feroz, which under Section 15 (b) (ii) of Sindh 
Local Government Act, 2013 is constituted purely for rural area of a 
District. This petition is therefore dismissed and leave refused.        
 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
 
JUDGE 
 
 
 
Karachi, the 
Announced on 25.08.2016 by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Faisal Arab 
 
Approved For Reporting 
Khurram 
Civil Petition No. 367-K/2016 
8
 Section 15 of the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013, which reads as 
under:- 
“15. As soon as may be, the following Councils shall be constituted - 
(a) in urban area – 
(i) 
a Union Committee for each ward in the 
Corporation; 
 
(ii) 
a Town Committee for each Town comprising of 
single member of ward; 
 
(iii) 
a Municipal Committee for each Municipality 
comprising of single member of ward: 
 
(iv) 
a Municipal Corporation for each city comprising 
of Union Committees; 
 
(v) 
a District Municipal Corporation for each district of 
the Metropolitan city; and 
 
(vi) 
a Metropolitan Corporation for each Metropolitan 
city;  
 
 
 
(b) in rural area-  
 
 
 
(i) 
a Union Council for each Union; 
 
 
 
(ii) 
a District Council for each District; 
 
 
Provided that for the districts in Karachi Division there shall be 
one District Council comprising of such areas of said districts.” 
 
 
 
Section 35 (1) (c) reads as under:-  
“35. Qualifications for candidates as members. (1) A person shall 
not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of the Council 
unless- 
(a) …………………………………………………………….. 
(b) …………………………………………………………….. 
(c) he is enrolled as a voter in the electoral roll of the Council or ward”.