The Sindh High Court’s Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Nisar Muhammad Shaikh heard the counsel for the petitioner, Syed Ali Bux Shah alias Pappu Shah, who is a candidate. His lawyer brought up three recent judgments questioning the registration of millions of bogus voters and said that unless the electoral list is purged of fake voters, any election, whether it is a by-election or general election, would be a farce and against the explicit orders of the Supreme Court.
Deputy Attorney General Ashqiue Raza, appeared for the commission, and other officials named in the petition. Anwar Mansoor Khan represented Zulfiqar Mirza’s son Hasnain Mirza, who is a candidate and one of the 18 people named as respondents. They defended the voter list for the constituency and contended that Pappu Shah’s petition was aimed at derailing the democratic process.
After hearing the petitioner’s lawyer for over an hour, the judges asked the commission’s officials in attendance to lay before the court the two lists ie of 2007 and 2011 for a quick comparison. The bench then put off the proceedings till Wednesday morning.
The seat fell vacant on September 7, 2011 after Zulfiqar Mirza resigned.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2012.
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