NA-246 elections vs board exams: By-poll candidate goes to court against new dates

KARACHI:

One of the candidates for the NA-246 by-polls has gone to court against the change in the schedule for the Matric exams as the two events were clashing.

Usman Moazzam Siddiqui went to Sindh High Court on Friday in an attempt to 'save the future' of his own daughter, who is among the 300,000 students who will be affected by the new exam dates. He cited the provincial education secretary, the provincial election commission and the director of the Board of Secondary Education, Karachi, as respondents.

His lawyer, Advocate Khurrum Lakhani, said the petitioner himself is contesting the NA-246 seat for which the polling is scheduled for April 23, according to the official announcement by the provincial election commissioner.

The petitioner's daughter, Zainab Siddiqui, is appearing in the Matric examination's regular science group, said Lakhani, claiming that the education secretary and the election commissioner rescheduled the exams for April 7 as several exam venues had to serve as polling stations.

"Due to the change in the schedule, more than 300,000 students are suffering mentally and are getting upset," the petitioner claimed. He accused the respondents of issuing new exam dates without considering the future of the students, who are suffering as they do not have enough time to prepare.

"The total registered voters in NA-246 are less than 250,000 whereas the rescheduling examination is creating mental agony for more than 300,000 students," the petitioner pointed out. He requested the court direct the education secretary to ensure that the Matric exams are not rescheduled and are held according to the previous schedule. A direction was also sought for the election commissioner to change the dates of the by-polls.

On Friday, the bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah took up the matter but adjourned the hearing till March 30.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2015.