ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court on Tuesday issued a stay order on the conduct of local government elections in Quetta, halting the electoral process until further proceedings.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Aminuddin heard the case, with Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi as members of the bench.

During the hearing, petitioner Abdul Qadir was represented by counsel Kamran Murtaza, who argued that the delimitation of constituencies in Quetta was carried out on the basis of the 2017 census.

The counsel informed the court that the 2023 census has now been formally notified and, therefore, local government elections should be conducted under fresh delimitations based on the latest population data.

He maintained that holding elections on the basis of outdated census figures would be contrary to the law and constitutional requirements.

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After hearing the preliminary arguments, the court issued a stay order on the Quetta local government elections and also issued notices to the relevant parties for further hearing.