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KARACHI, July 12: The Sindh High Court on Monday adjourned to Wednesday final hearing of three Muttahida Qaumi Movement candidates' petition against the Election Commission's order for fresh by-polls in their constituencies.
Appearing for two of the 24 private respondents, Advocate Junaid Farooqui requested the bench, comprising Justices Anwar Zaheer Jamali and Gulzar Ahmed, to allow him more time for filing counter-affidavits on behalf of his clients.
Opposing the request on behalf of the petitioners, Advocate Abul Inam submitted that the counsel filed power for the two respondents on June 28 but was still seeking adjournment.
He said the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal candidates, including the two respondents represented by Mr Farooqui, did not care to appear before the EC and the impugned order was passed ex parte.
A number of private respondents, the lawyer stated, had not bothered to enter appearance despite service of processes. The main respondents who lost the May 12 bypolls were only interested in delaying the proceedings while others were not interested at all as they had nothing at stake.
The lawyer filed an affidavit- in-rejoinder on behalf of the petitioners, M. Abid Ali Umang (NA- 240), Nisar Ahmed Pahnwar (NA-246) and Yousaf Munir Shaikh (PS- 127), and requested that he be allowed to advance his arguments on merit.
Advocate-General Anwar Mansoor Khan submitted that the three constituencies could not be allowed to remain unrepresented indefinitely. Further delay would amount to disenfranchising the voters.
The court had only stayed the operation of the impugned order but there was no interim order for notification of the successful candidates. The petition should, therefore, be heard and decided at the earliest.
Attorney-General Makhdoom Ali Khan said he was available for a couple of days on court notice and requested early hearing of the questions of law involved in the petition.
The bench allowed a short adjournment but observed that the matter would be heard expeditiously from July 14, partly because one of its members would be joining a circuit bench for one year next week. Further delay would require a fresh hearing by another vacation bench. The stay order against the impugned bypoll order was extended.
REJOINDER: The petitioners earlier submitted in their affidavit-in-rejoinder that out of a total of 701 polling stations, firing occurred only at one situated in Jafar Tayyar Society (PS-127).
The balloting was suspended for a while and the polling proceeded smoothly and concluded peacefully there and elsewhere as evidenced by the police and the EC staff's own reports.
They said there were hit-and-run incidents away from the polling stations. The impugned order set a bad precedent for if elections were to be declared null and void on account of firing incidents, losing candidates would always resort to violence to have the balloting annulled. There would be no sanctity of ballot.
The EC order, the petitioners submitted, was neither sustainable by facts nor in law. There was no material available to invoke Section 103-AA of the Representation of People Act.
The complaints and counter-complaints made by the rival candidates could only have been looked into by election tribunals and only if substantiated by evidence. There was no interference in the free exercise of the right of franchise and the impugned EC order violated the sanctity of the ballot and defeated the very object of the Representation of People Act, they said.
