Ali Bux Shah, better known as Pappu Shah, has gone to court to fight for a stay order on the by-election for the Badin seat given up by Zulfiqar Mirza because of faulty voter lists.
The by-election is just a week away, scheduled for February 25 by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Zulfiqar Mirza resigned on August 28 and his PS-57 seat fell vacant on September 7 last year. His son Hasnain and 19 other candidates are planning to contest the by-election now.
On Friday, the Sindh High Court put these candidates and the election commission on notice for February 21 in Pappu Shah’s constitutional petition.
Shah argued that as his nomination papers were accepted and he was standing for the election, he could file the petition.
His argument for a stay order relies on data on millions of fake voters provided to the Supreme Court by the election commission and the National Database and Registration Authority. This is the subject of another petition being heard in the apex court.
Pappu Shah’s lawyer argued that unless the entire voter list is corrected, particularly for the Badin constituency, by-elections would be in violation of the orders of the Supreme Court.
Articles 218 and 219 of the constitution state that the election machinery is duty bound to ensure that voting is genuine, according to a proper voter list, transparent and free of any type of rigging.
If the by-elections go ahead without lists prepared on the lines of the Electoral Rolls Act of 1974, they would be illegal and void, his lawyer stated.
Pappu Shah appealed to the court to direct the commission to prepare a proper voter list, publish it and display it 21 days before the by-elections.
Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Nisar M Sheikh heard the initial arguments by the petitioner’s lawyer and ordered for notices to be issued to all the people named in the petition.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 18th, 2012.
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