QUETTA: A division bench of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) has ordered re-election in 39 polling stations of the provincial assembly’s PB-21 constituency.

The bench comprising Justice Muhammad Kamran Mullahkhail and Muhammad Iqbal Kasi issued the order Saturday on the petition filed by Sardar Muhammad Saleh Bhootani.

Mr Bhootani contested and won the election from the seat in Hub, Lasbela in the general elections on Feb 8.

He had challenged the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision to recount votes cast in 39 out of the total 123 polling stations on the application of PPP candidate Mir Ali Hassan Zehri, who came in third in the final result.

The electoral watchdog now has three weeks to conduct re-polling in the 39 polling sta-tions of Dureji and Hub Tehsil and an-other 21 days to announce the results.

Mr Bhootani, who had won the election with a lead of over 16,000 votes, pleaded that his votes were rejected in the recount with the alleged connivance of the returning officer in a bid “to change his victory into defeat”.

The court rejected ECP’s decision and accepted Mr Bhootani’s plea for a re-election.Senior lawyer Hamid Khan, Rana Waqar and Nadir Ali Chalgari appeared before the court on behalf of Mr Bhootani, while Salahuddin Khan and Munir Ahmed Kakar represented Mr Zehri.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2024