PESHAWAR: A single-member Peshawar High Court bench on Friday turned down the Election Commission of Pakistan’s request to declare non-maintainable a petition challenging the alleged disenfranchisement of women in the recent by-elections for a tehsil council seat from Shahikhel area in Lower Dir.

ECP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa law officer Riaz Khan told Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth that the petition filed by some Dir by-election candidates and women voters was non-maintainable as they should have approached the Commission for redressal of their grievances before coming to the court.

The bench, however, observed that the ECP had the powers under the Elections Act, 2017, to declare an election void if the turnout of women voters was less than 10 per cent of the total votes polled.

PHC asks commission about inaction after learning that women didn’t cast vote in Dir by-poll

It wondered why the commission didn’t take necessary action after learning that not a single woman had cast vote in the by-election.

The bench fixed Jan 12 for the next hearing into the petition asking the ECP not to issue notification of the victory of the Jamaat-i-Islami candidate in the Shahikhel by-elections.

It asked the commission to maintain status quo on the issue.

The bench also directed the ECP, returning officer of the area, provincial minister Muzaffar Said and the top vote-getter Gul Hakeem Khan to submit the written comments on the petition challenging the election in Shahikhel ward of Timergara Tehsil Council alleging that women were not permitted to enter polling stations to cast votes.

The petition is jointly filed by candidates Inayatur Rehman, Dilawar Khan, Manzoor Ahmad, Fazal Wahab and Hisamuddin, and women voters Bakhtmina, Baitul Miraj, Haseen Zeba, Khaest Begum and Miraj Bibi.

The petitioners’ lawyer, Muzzamil Khan, said of the total of 6,286 registered women voters in the said ward/ union council, not a single woman cast vote as the local nazim, Gul Hakeem and local administration in connivance with each other had barred women voting.

He said Section 9 of the Elections Act, 2017, prohibited disenfranchisement of women and therefore, an election could be declared void on that ground.

The lawyer said explanation to the said provision provided that if the turnout of women voters was less than 10 per cent of the total votes polled during elections in a constituency, the Election Commission of Pakistan might presume that women voters were restrained from casting votes through an agreement and therefore, it might declare polling at one or more polling stations or across the constituency void.

The ECP official said the Elections Act, 2017, was not applicable to the local government polls as these polls were conducted under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013.

Muzzamil Khan said under Article 143 of the Constitution, if a provincial law was in conflict with the federal law, then the latter should prevail.

He added that the Elections Act, 2017, was applicable to all the polls, including those for local bodies.

The lawyer requested the bench to declare the election of tehsil councillor in union council and ward Shahikhel held on Dec 21 void and illegal and order the holding of re-election.

He said ahead of the by-polls, finance minister Muzaffar Said had begun pre-poll rigging for his party’s candidate, Gul Hakim, and launched Rs300 million worth of development works in the area.

Muzzamil Khan added that cash payment was also made to the voters in the said locality and as such, the entire by-election was manipulated.

He claimed that on the day of polling when women voters came to the polling station, only two of them managed to make their way inside, whereas other women were stopped from stepping in.

The lawyer said the two women voters were detained there for some time before being allowed to leave from the back door.

He added that the doors of polling stations were closed by local nazim Fazal Qadir and Gul Hakim.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2017