Voters' identity: MQM seeks suspension of thumb verification report

Petitioners claim that NADRA's system could not verify the fingerprints.

KARACHI: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has pleaded the Sindh High Court to suspend the report submitted by the National Database and Registration Authority, according to which fingerprints on 57, 642 votes cast in NA-256 could not be verified.

This was demanded in a petition filed by MQM's Iqbal Muhammad Ali, who had won the NA-256 seat in the elections, and MPA Waqar Shah.

The petitioners claimed that Nadra had recently revealed that its system could not verify the fingerprints due to poor ink but an impression was given in the media that bogus votes were polled, their lawyer Abrar Hasan told The Express Tribune. He said that the court has been pleaded to direct the election tribunal to suspend the Nadra report until the complete evidence was recorded.

Petitioner Iqbal Muhammad Ali claimed that the whole exercise had served no purpose except creating hype in the media. Waqar Shah, who was elected as an Assembly member following his victory in the PS-128 election, has also challenged the election tribunal's order to the Nadra to verify the thumb impressions of the voters cast in the constituency.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2013.