SHC issues notice on another six pleas challenging NA, PS results

Petitioners accuse candidates of the PTI, PPP and PML-N of rigging the polls.

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court barred the Election Commission of Pakistan on Wednesday from officially notifying returned candidates on the three Sindh Assembly seats, including Karachi’s PS-29  clinched by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, over allegations of rigging and corrupt practices.

The bench also issued notice to the election commission on another three petitions challenging results of a National Assembly and one Sindh Assembly seat which belong to the candidates of PTI, Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Abdul Razzak, Jamaat-e-Islami’s candidate for the Karachi’s PS-93 seat, challenged victory of his rival, PTI’s Hafizuddin.

The petitioner, who took Hafizuddin along with the ECP secretary, the district returning officer, returning officer and Peerabad police’s station house officer to court, alleged that Hafizuddin’s victory in election was managed through corrupt practices.

According to Razzak, Hafizuddin had reportedly received 15,432 votes, out of the total 62,772 registered votes that include 61,656 valid ones and 1,116 rejected ones.

The petitioner accused the PTI candidate of indulging in massive rigging, illegalities and corrupt practices, adding that he committed gross violations of the Representation of Peoples Act 1976, election rules and regulations.

“The Form XIV issued by the presiding officers confirmed that the petitioner (Abdul Razzak) had secured 11,487 votes where as the respondent Hafizuddin had secured 9,452 votes,” the lawyer argued. On the day of the May 11 election, Razzak came to know that illegalities were being committed at the polling stations - 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 24 and 25 - where the miscreants of the rival political party evicted the petitioner’s polling agents and stamped votes in favour of their own candidates, said the lawyer.

Razzak asked the court to declare him as a returned candidate for having obtained more votes than his rival PTI candidate. He also asked that the ECP may be restrained from issuing a notification declaring Hafizuddin as the winner and order fresh polls at the mentioned polling stations under the supervision of armed forces.



After the preliminary hearing, a bench headed by Justice Faisal Arab issued notice to the ECP, DRO, RO, and Hafizuddin for May 24 to file their comments. Till the next date, the ECP was restrained from notifying the returned candidate from this seat.

Giraffe to a tiger

Yousufur Rehman Afridi, a PML-N candidate, told the judges that he had filed nomination papers and was allotted the election symbol of ‘tiger’ and contested election for PS-29 seat. On morning of May 11, however, he came to know that ‘giraffe’ was published as his election symbol.

According to the petitioner, he immediately contacted the DRO West to stop the polling process but no action was taken.

On his application filed under Section 103-AA of the Representation of the Peoples Act 1976 to seek summary inquiry into the state of affairs, the election commission had called comments from the DRO, who have not filed any reply as yet.

He apprehended that the ECP might issue notification of the returned candidate and pleaded to the court to restrain the commission from issuing such notification till his complaint was finally decided.

The same bench restrained the ECP from notifying successful candidate for the PS-14 (Jacobabad) on the petition filed by PPP’s Sardar Muqeem Khoso till May 24.

Khoso, who lost PS-14 Jacobabad seat to rival PML-N’s Muhammad Aslam Abro, also sought a stay order against notifying of the returned candidate by the ECP.

He said he had won the election but Abri managed to manipulate the votes to defeat him, which is illegal and deprived Khoso of his constitutional and legal rights to be elected as public representative.

The bench issued notice to the ECP, DRO and the concerned ROs to file their comments on both pleas by May 24.

Petitioners challenge victory  of PPP’s candidates

A petitioner, Mir Ghalib Hussain Domki, moved the court against alleged rigging by the rival candidates of the Pakistan Peoples Party during the election on the NA-210 and PS-18 seats from the Kandhkot-Kashmore.

Domki, who had contested election on the seats of both the assemblies on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s ticket, alleged that the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Asghar Ali Bijarani and Abdul Rauf Khoso had committed gross irregularities to win the National Assembly and Sindh Assembly seats, respectively.

“On at least 35 polling stations, the polling staff harassed the voters, roughed up the polling agents and cast fake votes,” he complained to the judges. The petitioner pleaded the court to direct the ECP to hold an inquiry on his complaint. He also asked that till the inquiry was concluded, the notification of the successful candidates may not be issued. The bench issued notice to the ECP, DRO, concerned returning officers and the respondent candidates for May 24 to file their replies.

The same bench also restrained the ECP from officially notifying returned candidate for the PS-21 (Naushero Feroze) till May 24.

Another petitioner, Syed Abrar Ali Shah, who lost the PS-21 seat to PPP’s Syed Sarfaraz Hussain Shah, claimed that his defeat was engineered by only ‘nine’ votes through rigging and unfair means.

The petitioner, who had contested the election on National Peoples Party’s ticket, sought a direction for the ECP to order recounting of votes and till then refrain from notifying the returned candidates.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2013.