SC stays re-polling in PB-51 constituency

ISLAMABAD:

The Supreme Court on Thursday suspended repolling at 12 polling stations in the Balochistan Assembly Constituency PB-51 Chaman with the consent of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), and issued notices to the relevant parties to the case, including the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP).

A three-member bench, led by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, and including Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan heard the appeal of Asghar Khan Achakzai, a candidate of the Awami National Party (ANP) who remained runner-up in the February 8 general elections.

In this constituency, the ECP had notified the election victory of Independent candidate Abdul Khaliq Khan, who had secured 20,390 votes. Achakzai on the other hand got 19,623 votes. However, the ECP ordered re-polling on 12 polling stations because of an unnatural turnout.

In his appeal, Achakzai had requested for re-polling at 11 more polling stations, where he claimed that the turnout was unnatural. During the hearing, the lawyer for the appellant requested the apex court to stop the re-polling on 12 polling stations.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that the court could not decide the matter immediately and stressed that the ECP’s point of view would have to be heard on the matter. An ECP official said that the polls supervisor had no objection on withholding the re-polling until the proceedings were completed.

The ECP Law Department director general told the court that if necessary, the re-polling could be postponed for 7-or 10 days. The court stayed the re-polling, which was scheduled for April 21 and issued notices to the relevant parties.