HYDERABAD: A division bench of Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit, has dismissed a constitutional petition filed by Ghulam Mustafa Rind to challenge rejection of his nomination papers for NA-207 Shaheed Benazirabad-I, which was also contested (and later won) by Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari. Mr Rind, in his petition had also sought a stay order against her oath-taking.

The petition was originally filed in SHC’s principal seat but was transferred to the Hyderabad circuit and placed before the division bench comprising Justice Khadim Hussain Tunio and Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed. The bench rejected it through an order authored by Justice Tunio.

According to the order, the petition had been repeated after its “dismissal as not pressed unconditionally”. He prayed the court to set aside the March 29 notification issued by the returning officer concerned.

Mr Rind had also prayed the court to set aside the earlier (March 28) order passed by the Election Tribunal regarding Wapda dues outstanding against him and to reject respondent Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari’s of form-34 for NA-207 issued to her by the returning officer.

He sought court’s directive to the returning to accept his nomination papers and enlist his name as contesting candidate [for the Feb 8 elections].

Justice Tunio observed in his order that the basis of instant and previous petition remained identical. After announcement of Feb 8 general election schedule by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) the petitioner filed his papers to contest elections from NA-207 Shaheed Benazirabad-I against which objections were filed.

The RO considered objections and his nomination papers were rejected. He noted that the petitioner had questioned RO’s order before Election Tribunal which decided it on March 28, directing the RO to accept papers of the petitioner for NA-207 subject to payment of electricity dues by the petitioner.

Simultaneously, he further noted, the petitioner filed a petition wherein his relief was same and upon election appeal being allowed his counsel under instructions did not press the petition which was dismissed on April 3 with no stipulation or express permission for its re-institution or even for filing of subsequent petition on the same grounds and for the same relief.

The court asked petitioner’s counsel to satisfy court how could the petition be entertained after an earlier one had been dismissed and the petitioner had been granted relief conditionally in election appeal by him which he could not avail.

The court said: “No proper answers were given besides grounds available in petition being reiterated which, we may add, were substantiated by no evidence”.

Deputy Attorney General Parkash Kumar submitted in court that the subsequent petition was not maintainable.

Additional Advocate General Allah Bachayo Soomro and Assistant AG Sindh Rafiq Ahmed Dahiri agreed that the petition could not be instituted after the earlier one was dismissed.

The court said that respondent-7 [Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari] had already been declared elected unopposed and sole returned candidate by the ECP through a notification dated April 1 and she had taken oath as MNA.

The court said after taking remedy from Election Tribunal the petitioner failed to clear his dues and only stated that now that reference number of bill was allegedly incorrect.

“This oversight is something he ought to have checked even before going to Election Tribunal which will have been appropriate time to address it as well. Suffice it to say that he slept on the matter until results of election came knocking. More, the petitioner was not accompanied by any proof of any manner to show that reference number of utility bill was incorrect. It is for these reasons that the instant petition is dismissed in limine by us through short order dated April 24,” said order.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2024