KARACHI, June 18: An election tribunal reserved order on Wednesday on a candidate’s plea for staying the June 23 byelection in NA-255. The tribunal will announce its decision on Thursday.

Representing Aslam Mujahid of Muttahida Majlis-i- Amal, advocate Junaid Farooqui vehemently argued that the tribunal could pass an interim order, particularly in view of a Sindh High Court division bench observation on a writ petition moved by his client.

The MQM Haqiqi candidate, late Mahmood Ahmad Qureshi, had won the election by exploiting the Muhajir nationality issue and failed to contest the petition. The MMA candidate, who obtained the second largest number of votes, deserved to be declared elected from the constituency. The Election Commission had itself stayed a byelection in the NWFP when a petitioner approached the Supreme Court, the lawyer contended.

Contesting the stay plea, AAG Qazi Khalid Ali submitted that the grant of interim injunction was regulated by the Specific Relief Act, which declared that a stay could not be granted to restrain a public functionary from discharging his legal or constitutional functions.

Under Article 224 (4) of the Constitution, the Election Commission was bound to hold a byelection within 60 days of MNA Qureshi’s death.

It was for voters to choose their representatives, he said, citing the 1993 Supreme Court judgment in the Nawaz Sharif case and the Lahore High Court order in the Punjab Assembly dissolution case. The election challenged by the petitioner had become void and he had no case, the AAG said.

In response to repeated assertions by the petitioner’s counsel, Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Leghari, who constituted the tribunal, observed that an order restraining voters from electing their representative would be a “novel” order. A constituency could not be disenfranchised, he said.

Pointing out that the petitioner was also contesting the byelection, he advised him to seek the voters’ mandate rather than a court verdict in his favour.

The petition, he said, suffered from a number of deficiencies. The tribunal had also to see the balance of convenience, the judge observed.