SC orders vote verification in Khawaja Asif's NA-110

Abdul Shakoor Khan Published January 19, 2016

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered verification of votes in Sialkot's NA-110 constituency, where Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had emerged victorious in the 2013 general elections.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali had taken up an application filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's (PTI) Usman Dar, challenging the election of Asif in NA-110.

Asif had won the NA-110 seat with 92,803 votes, while the PTI’s Usman Dar could manage only 71,525. This was Khawaja Asif’s third consecutive win from the Sialkot National Assembly constituency after 2002 and 2008.

After accepting Dar's application for hearing, the apex court directed the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to verify counterfoils and thumb impressions on votes cast in NA-110.

The court gave Nadra a time period of three months to submit its report on verification of votes.

PTI's Usman Dar will have to bear the expense of the verification process, the court said in its order.

The NA-110 (Sialkot) constituency was one of the four constituencies for which the PTI had sought vote audit and re-election through election petitions. The other constituencies were NA-125 (Lahore), NA-122 (Lahore), and NA-154 (Lodhran).

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@sheikh

Jan 19, 2016 02:50pm

Another wicket !

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Altaf

Jan 19, 2016 03:07pm

why did it took 2.5 years to decide this matter ???

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mohammed Sattar

Jan 19, 2016 03:07pm

justice delayed is justice denied. 3 years after the election, what a farce.

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Parvez

Jan 19, 2016 03:11pm

Our ECP has proved to be a failure....by the time they sort out the mess they created in 2013 it will be time for the next election......and the same incompetent lot will preside over the next election.....this is democracy Pakistan style.

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jehanzeb khan

Jan 19, 2016 03:15pm

but this is very good for future elections. A candidate should win only on the basis of true votes casted for him/her. Parties should agree they will not be invloved in rigging. Bio-metric system for voting must be implemented in next general elections.

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hassan

Jan 19, 2016 03:22pm

its been 3 years. he has done the damage . also if proven what will happen? they will do it again and be re-elected , no punishment will be made. DEMOCRACY at its Frikkin best

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Muhammad iqbal

Jan 19, 2016 03:30pm

@hassan . NA speaker is example. He was re elected with transferred votes.

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Dictator

Jan 19, 2016 03:50pm

I am afraid, voter verification will bring more suspect then any thing else. We can see what has happened from the voter verification result of constituency won by Pervaiz khattak during the judicial commission hearings, it has more then 50% voters list not identifiable as per the records from NADRA. Same will the result of any constituency of National or provincial assembly. Paper quality all over the Pakistan in last election was very low and those thumb impression cannot be verifiable. this is big mistake from EC, however We cannot overthrown the running provincial and Federal government specially after the judicial commission finding.

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ssa

Jan 19, 2016 05:13pm

It will be smart for IK and PYI to strive for election reforms NOW for the next election instead continuing to fight against the results of past

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Abdullah Karim UAE

Jan 19, 2016 07:12pm

Kh Asif promised to bring electricity within 3 months now 3 yrs, each and every vote should verify by Nadara, this 3rd wkt to fall out of 4 wk.

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Gawal Mandi Ya

Jan 19, 2016 08:49pm

Here we go again,PTI needs to stop calling out the government on election cheating and understand that while PML-N is in power,ain't nothing gonna change.Whether there was any irregularities or cheating,we will never know,its too little too late,recent past is a good indicator of probes that came out empty handed.

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iqbal

Jan 19, 2016 09:56pm

This is a fact that the system cannot be corrected quickly but the persistence from PTI and IK to at least get it started is very encouraging. Had he not done Dharna or other insistence on these election fraud/irregularities, the next election would have no improvement. But all this effort has definitely resulted in something if not everything. One step towards correction is still better than sitting, accepting the fraud as it is, and paving the way for next even bigger fraud. Thanks IK and PTI for forcing these hawks to at least start something.

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Yaar Nawab

Jan 19, 2016 11:09pm

PMLN tycons would be in trouble in the upcoming elections as late but still rigging mafia is being exposed !!!

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Philosopher (from Japan)

Jan 19, 2016 11:44pm

I think we should come out of this elections and re elections. It's enough. Three years have already passed let them rule a couple of years more.

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malick

Jan 19, 2016 11:55pm

SC is SC I respect to Judiciary. My suggestion is that three months time is too much it should be only three days to three weeks. NADRA should be ready as new about petition.

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Jan 20, 2016 01:42am

@mohammed Sattar : there is no justice in Pakistan and that is a fact and a reality

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Dare

Jan 20, 2016 02:08am

Great!

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Aqil Khan

Jan 20, 2016 03:40am

It took so long because the runner up, Usman Dar , was trying to slip away and was not making his appearance in the court. He was also fined by Court for wasting the court's time.

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Justice

Jan 20, 2016 05:17am

PML-N Karajan Asif should pay all the expense if counting revel bogus votes was the reason for his winning.

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