PHC orders suspension of LG re-elections

Published July 3, 2015
Court issues notice to EC asking it that on what grounds are the re-elections being held. —Dawn/File
Court issues notice to EC asking it that on what grounds are the re-elections being held. —Dawn/File

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday ordered the election commission not to hold the local government re-elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

A two-member bench comprising of Justice Irshad Qaiser and Justice Daud Khan heard a petition regarding the suspension of local government re-polling in 356 stations in the province.

Adjourning the next hearing of the case until July 14, the court also issued a notice to the election commission asking it on what grounds it is conducting re-elections.

The petition was submitted by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Muhammad Zahid Durrani who argued that the May 30 local government polls were mismanaged and rigged and that the returning officers (ROs) and district returning officers (DROs) altered the results.

Under these circumstances, the re-elections will be against the law and constitution, the MPA added.

Also read: KP govt calls on army to supervise LG re-elections

Yesterday, The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government decided to call out the army to control the law and order and security situation during the re-polls on July 5.

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