Election inquiry: NA-122 hearing to resume today

Hearing was adjourned on Wednesday on PML-N counsel’s request

LAHORE: An election tribunal hearing a rigging complaint in the NA-122 constituency on Wednesday adjourned the hearing for July 2 (today).

National Assembly’s Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq’s counsel, Barrister Asjad Saeed, sought the adjournment, stating that he had to appear before Lahore High Court (LHC) in connection with another case.

Talking to the media, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) counsel Anees Ali Hashmi said that the PML-N could not refute the evidence of rigging that was on the record. “They (the PML-N) are trying to delay the verdict. The PML-N’s counsel should have stated on June 30 that he was going to be busy on July 1,” he said.

“The commission reported that Sadiq still would be left with a lead of 8,851 votes if invalid votes were excluded from the count. The commission had examined Forms 14 and 15, thumb impressions of presiding officers and their signatures in the presence of representatives of both parties,” Asjad Saeed had said.

Saeed had said that allegations levelled by PTI were baseless. “Their claims have nothing to do with reality. There is no substantial evidence available to establish rigging in the election,” he said. The counsel said that the petition filed by PTI chief Imran Khan was not maintainable.

Hashmi had said there was clear evidence of rigging. He said that Sadiq had taken advantage of irregularities.

He had stated that around 45,000 votes on the record were invalid. “There is a difference between the number of votes declared invalid by the Election Commission and the NADRA,” he said. “All votes issued against incorrect CNIC numbers are invalid,” he said.

The NADRA had submitted a supplementary report, stating that 5,898 (96.7 per cent) votes out of the 6,123 could be valid.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2015.