GUJRAT: A PTI-backed election candidate from NA-63 Sajid Yousaf Channi was finally set free by the court on Tuesday after Saddar police rearrested him following the acceptance of his bail plea on Monday.

Mr Channi was produced in the court of Magistrate Farooq-i-Azam on Tuesday where his counsel, Sabir Ali Cheema, informed the court about his client’s nomination in an already registered case by the Saddar police.

The judge ordered police to discharge him from the case and also set him free from custody.

On Monday, Mr Channi’s bail applications in two cases were accepted by the courts that issued orders for his release but in the evening, the Saddar police took him into custody again from the district jail in another case.

Mr Channi was arrested by the police last Friday when he came out of the District Complex after an interval in the consolidation process at the office of returning officer in NA-63 and he was sent to the district jail on judicial remand on Saturday.

He had challenged the unofficial results announced by the RO, declaring Chaudhry Hussain Elahi of the PML-Q as winner. He contested the election while being abroad and only returned to the country few days after the Feb 8 polls.

Meanwhile, veteran politician and head of Nawabzada family, Nawabzada Ghazanfar Ali Gul, has challenged the violation of rules in consolidation of unofficial results in NA-63.

He has filed a petition with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), alleging that the RO concerned had committed severe violation of rules during the consolidation process from Feb 8 to 16.

A PML-N candidate from NA-63, Mr Gul alleged that the preparation of Form 47 and then consolidation of unofficial results was done unilaterally in absence of the contesting candidates, which was against the law. He had sought suspension of the RO’s notification from NA-63 as well as preparing a fresh result under the supervision of the commission.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued here, Mr Gul said the people’s mandate in the election had been robbed at the RO’s office. He stated that all the PML-Q candidates from Gujrat had lost the election but they were declared winners.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2024