Tribunal punishes RO for skipping appearance

The Election Tribunal (ET) Islamabad on Wednesday imposed Rs15,000 on the returning officer of the NA-47 constituency of Islamabad for not appearing before the tribunal and ordered him to appear in any case in the next hearing. The tribunal gave a last chance to the RO to appear.

The tribunal also gave the last and final opportunity to PML-N MNA Tariq Fazal Chaudhry from NA-47 to submit his reply. The MNA was ordered to submit Forms 45, 46 and 47 along with the affidavit.

In a written order, the tribunal stated that MNA Tariq Fazal didn’t submit the answer as per the court order and it was the last and final chance to submit Forms 45, 46 and 47 along with the affidavit.

Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri of the Election Tribunal heard the application of Shoaib Shaheen, an independent candidate from the NA-47 constituency, against poll rigging in the constituency. Lawyers appeared before the court on behalf of Shoaib Shaheen.

Justice Jahangiri remarked that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was bound to give a reply as the electoral body had conducted ‘transparent’ elections.

The counsel, representing the ECP, pleaded that their software was not used by the presiding officer (PO) but by the RO.

The judge finally imposed the fine on the RO for not appearing before the tribunal despite a notice on the previous hearing and adjourned the hearing in Shoaib Shaheen’s application against rigging till June 5.