A court official will be inspecting the record of the 400 new members of the Arts Council of Pakistan ahead of their December 21 elections.
The Sindh High Court (SHC) bench, headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar, has appointed a Nazir to inspect the records pertaining to these new memberships and submit a report within a week.
The temporary restraining orders came on a petition jointly filed by some members, who had accused the incumbent managing body of the Arts Council of indulging in illegal practices, such as issuing fake memberships to increase their votes. They complained that, in a recent meeting, the body had decided to award memberships to as many as 400 people. The membership has been given with reference to a previous decision of the body and lists of new members have also been approved.
According to their lawyer, Badar Alam, the body was receiving fees from the newly enrolled members in the back dates, which is a clear violation of the rules. Under the law, a member becomes eligible to cast vote after paying the membership fee six months before the polls.
On December 6, the SHC bench had stopped the body from including 400 new members in the electoral rolls and receiving their fees on back dates.
On Thursday, the judges took up the matter again. They appointed an SHC Nazir as a commissioner to inspect the records of the membership thoroughly and submit the report within a week.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2014.
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