Election tribunal irked by non-submission of report

Asks NA Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri to submit NADRA report; fines him Rs100,000

QUETTA: The Balochistan High Court’s Election Tribunal, headed by Justice Abdullah Baloch, has ordered National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri and his lawyers to submit the National Database Registration Authority’s (Nadra) verification report till next hearing and fined Suri Rs100,000.

Hearing the objection plea submitted by Balochistan National Party’s (BNP-M) senior leader Lashkari Raisani who contested the July 2018 election from NA-265 constituency, the court expressed indignation over non-submission of NADRA’s verification report by Suri, who had bagged that seat.

Raisani accompanied with his lawyer, Riaz Ahmed, appeared in the court during Saturday’s hearing while neither Qasim Suri nor his lawyer appeared in the court.

Asking the court to allow more time for submission of NADRA report, a junior lawyer, who appeared on behalf of Suri, said the deputy speaker has hired famous counsel Babar Awan as his lawyer, who would appear in the next hearing.

Raisani told the court that Babar Awan should have appeared in the court if he was ready to pursue Suri’s case, adding that tactics were being played to cause delays. He urged the court to nullify NA-265’s election notification until the election tribunal’s judgment.

Expressing indignation over non-appearance of Suri and his lawyer, the tribunal fined the deputy speaker. “The court will nullify Suri’s victory notification as Member National Assembly if he doesn’t appear in court on the next hearing,” said Justice Abdullah Baloch.

The hearing was later adjourned till September 14. The BNP’s Lashkari Raisani had Suri’s victory in the general elections and requested for re-verification of votes.