Punjab govt responsible for misconduct in Daska by-polls, ECP submits reply in SC
ECP has told SC that the polls were made controversial by deploying selected officers.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday has heard a case pertaining to re-polling in National Assembly (NA) constituency NA-75 Daska.
During the proceedings, Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked, “The court won’t suspend Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order regarding re-elections in Daska however, we have to decide whether the polling will be conducted in entire constituency or in few areas.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) assistant lawyer told the court that counsel Salman Akram Raja is suffering from coronavirus due to which, he is unable to attend the hearing. The judge said that the decision would not be announced without listening to Salman Akram Raja’s arguments.
It’s like the commission had changed the date of the polling because of this case, he added.
Earlier, ECP had submitted a reply in SC, declaring Punjab government responsible for mismanagement during by-elections in NA-75 Daska. The commission had told the apex court that the polls were made controversial by deploying selected officers in the area.
Previously, SC had turned down the plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seeking suspension of ECP’s decision regarding re-polling in NA-75 Daska.
During the proceedings, PTI lawyer advocate Mohammad Shahzad Shaukat said that PML-N had raised objections over 23 polling stations. The returning officer said that no concerns were recorded on the results of 340 polling stations, he added.
Shahzad Shaukat adopted the stance that the commission had exceeded from its authority by ordering re-poll in NA-75 Daska.
In February 2021, the ECP had nullified by-election in NA-75 Daska and ordered to conduct re-polling in the entire constituency. The commission had first decided to hold elections on March 18 however, later, it announced a new date of April 10.
Announcing the reserved verdict, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja had declared that the by-poll in the constituency was not fair and transparent. Law and order situation was disrupted while an environment of fear was also created among the locals, he added.
It is to be mentioned here that the returning officer in NA-75 Daska had withheld the by-poll results in NA-75 Daska due to violence and alleged vote fraud.
According to the unofficial results of 337 polling stations, PML-N candidate Nosheen Iftikhar (97,588 votes) was leading Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Ali Asjad Malhi (94,541 votes). However, results of 23 polling stations were delayed.
The returning officer had expressed doubts over the results of 20 polling stations in the preliminary report.
