SHC rules against setting up of polling station inside private school

The law states that a polling station can only be established on government property

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has set aside the notification of the District East returning officer to set-up a polling station in the building of a private school for girls.

Headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, the division bench, ordered the district East DRO to make alternative arrangements to set up polling stations for union committees 17, 18, 19 and 20 in Bahadurabad before the date of elections.

The bench, which was hearing the Hajiani Hanifa Bai Memorial Society's petition against the East DRO's order to convert a portion of Dawood Girls School, Bahadurabad, into a polling station, passed this order on December 3.

The petitioner said that the management of the private girls' school had received a letter dated November 27, issued by returning officer for the union committees 17, 18, 19 and 10 in the district. The returning officer told the petitioner that due to the unavailability of a suitable building, a small part of their school would be required for the purpose during the local government elections being held on December 5.

The society's lawyer, Abdul Sattar Pirzada, argued that according to Section 8 (4) of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1976, "The polling station shall be situated in a government building for the constituency and where no government building is available for the purposes, an improvised polling station shall be set up on public property."

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th,  2015.