LAHORE: A local commission tasked to inspect the record of the NA-122 constituency, where National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq had been declared elected against PTI chief Imran Khan, submitted its report to the election tribunal on Monday.

On an application of Mr Khan, the tribunal had appointed retired sessions judge Ghulam Hussain Awan as head of the commission and ordered inspection of the record.

Mr Khan accused Mr Sadiq of having committed poll rigging.

The commission was directed to de-seal / open polling bags to check whether they had been closed with a proper seal or with broken or damaged seal.

It was also required to check the number of polled ballots which did not bear the stamp and signature of presiding officer or assistant presiding officer.

According to the 42-page report, the commission found 180,115 verified votes and 23,639 without signature / stamp of the authorised polling staff. It declared that 3,642 votes were invalid or rejected.

The report said Ayaz Sadiq obtained 92,393 votes and Imran Khan got 83,542. The remaining 4,180 votes went to other candidates. It revealed that 806 votes in Form-14 did not match the counterfoils.

Member of the tribunal Kazim Ali Malik directed the head of the commission to submit a written statement on the next hearing – Jan 17.

During the hearing, the counsel for Imran Khan, Advocate Anees Hashmi, pointed out that Information Minister Pervez Rashid had made contents of the report public prior to its formal submission to the tribunal.

But the tribunal observed that both the PML-N and PTI had issued statements on the inspection process and commission’s report.

Talking to newsmen, the counsel of both candidates claimed that the inspection had validated their stances.

Advocate Hashmi said about 30,000 votes had been found to be fake.

Advocate Asjad Saeed, Mr Sadiq’s counsel, said the commission had found 23,639 votes without required signatures and stamps, but did not declare them invalid or bogus.

He accused Mr Khan of being stubborn and not willing even to accept the outcome of the inspection conducted on his request.

Published in Dawn January 13th , 2015

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