UC-139 polls: Court stays election of councillors

Plaintiff says nomination papers were not checked by returning officer

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has suspended the victory notifications of chairman and vice-chairman of UC-139, Nishtar Town (Daroghawala-Lahore) and sought the comments of the election commission.

Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi passed the order on Thursday on a petition of a voter, Zameer Khan, after hearing initial arguments from the petitioner as well as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The petitioner’s counsel argued the nomination papers of Muhammad Amjad and Muhammad Arshad, declared victorious as chairman and vice-chairman respectively, were neither approved nor rejected by the returning officer.

The nomination papers, he said, could not be processed without the remarks of the returning officer. He asked the court to disqualify the respondents for contesting elections on bogus nomination papers.

An ECP officer also confirmed that the nomination papers of the respondents did not bear any remarks of the returning officer. He added, however, the matter could be taken up by the election commission or an election tribunal.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2017.