Staff Reporter:
QUETTA: The recent reduction in the population of Balochistan during the census of 2023 was challenged in the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Thursday. The High Court bench reserved its decision on the merits of the petition.
The division bench headed by Chief Justice Balochistan High Court, Mr. Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan heard the constitutional petition filed by Hasan Kamran Advocate, the petitioner was presented by Senator Kamran Murtaza Advocate.
Balochistan population reduced by 7 million: Petitioner
The petitioner argued that in Balochistan in the digital census, the population of Balochistan was 20.17 million, and the Council of Common Interests (ICI) illegally reduced the population of Balochistan by 7 million.
The overall population of the country has not been reduced since the petitioner was of the opinion that the Chief Ministers should have been elected in the meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI). The participants were not elected except for Sindh and Balochistan.
The decision of the Council of Common Interests regarding the decrease in the population of Balochistan should be declared illegal, senior lawyer Kamran Murtaza Advocate argued on behalf of the petitioner. The Judgment was reserved on the validity of the constitutional petition in this regard.