09 May 2004	Sunday	18 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

PESHAWAR, May 8: A candidate of recently held NWFP Bar Council polls, Zulfiqar Orakzai, has challenged the election results before the chairman of the council, requesting to declare him as returned candidate.

An objection/election petition was filed on Friday by Barrister Syed Mudasser Ameer on behalf of the petitioner before the chairman of the tribunal.

He requested the chairman to accept the petition and the counting of ballot papers received from various polling stations conducted by respondent No. 1 (Secretary bar council) on April 19 and 20 and subsequent notification issued on the basis thereof be declared illegal, without jurisdiction and of no legal effect.

The petitioner was initially announced as elected member of the Bar Council from Peshawar after completion of polling on April 10. Later, the secretary issued a notification declaringanother candidate Sohail Akhter successful.

The petitioner stated that according to the schedule April 17 was fixed for official counting of ballot papers received from various polling stations. He added that on the said date he and all other candidates went to the office of the Bar Council and they were informed by the secretary of the council to come back on April 19.

Mr Orakzai claimed that on April 19 he was shocked to see that the returning officer/respondent No 2 (NWFP advocate general) was not present at the counting as he was busy in the Supreme Court and the secretary counted the ballot papers himself.

On April 22, the petitioner stated that he was shocked to find out that the result forwarded to the returning officer by the secretary was contrary to the result compiled by the candidates at the end of the counting.

He contended that declaring the respondent No 11, Sohail Akhter, as elected and returned candidate was illegal and unlawful. He stated that the secretary had no lawful authority to make the official count. He added that the returning officer could not delegate his powers to any other person as the Pakistan Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act 1973 and the ruled framed thereunder did not provide such powers to him.