Badin by-elections: SHC dismisses Pappu Shah’s petition on voter list

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court dismissed in limine a constitutional petition filed by Syed Ali Bux Shah alias Pappu Shah who wants the Saturday’s by-elections stayed because he objects to the voter list of Badin.

He has argued that the electoral rolls are faulty, infested with fake or bogus voters.

Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Nisar Muhammad Shaikh announced late on Thursday that the petition was “misconceived, without any substance and untenable”.

The bench also rejected the contention made by Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada that the voters list prepared by the Election Commission of Pakistan on the basis of data provided by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) is full of mistakes, omissions and thousands of bogus voters instead of genuine residents.

The bench said that petitioner had failed to show any marked faults in the lists. The bench had summoned the lists of 2007 and 2011 for comparison. According to the Supreme Court orders, which the petitioner relied on, a fresh and verified list has been dispatched to the six constituencies where the by-elections are being held, the bench said in its order.

It also overlooked Pappu Shah’s contention that the procedure for the preparation of the list was not followed. The bench also noted that the petitioner had filed his nomination papers on January 13, 2012 for elections originally scheduled to be held on February 15, 2012. They were rescheduled due to an order passed by the apex court and the petition was filed on February 16, the day after.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2012.