NA-73: LHC turns down PTI leader Usman Dar's vote recount plea
The court upheld PML-N leader Khawaja Asif's victory in the constituency.
LAHORE (Dunya News) – Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday has rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Usman Dar’s plea demanding vote recount in NA-73.
While announcing the decision, the court upheld Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif’s victory in the constituency.
Earlier, LHC had restrained the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from issuing the victory notification of former foreign minister Khawaja Asif in NA-73 Sialkot constituency.
Dar, in his petition submitted through Advocate Anees Hashmi and Advocate Tajamul Gondal, had challenged the victory of Asif pleading that the returning officer did not provide Form-45 to the polling agents.
The PTI leader maintained that as many as 7,346 votes were dismissed in his constituency and he lost to the PML-N leader by a margin of 1,406 votes.
It is to be mentioned here that on July 25, Khawaja Asif obtained 116957 votes against PTI’s Usman Dar who secured 115464 votes in the constituency.
On the other hand, Supreme Court (SC) suspended LHC verdict of vote recount in an important constituency NA-131 over the appeal of PTI chief Imran Khan. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar said that there is no need of any recounting in the constituency.
SC also dismissed leader of Awami Raaj Party (ARP) Jamshed Dasti’s plea of recounting in NA-182 Muzaffargarh and directed him to approach Election Tribunal for further process. In this constituency, Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Mehar Irshad Ahmed won with 53054 votes while Jamshed Dasti lost with 50566 votes.
