KARACHI, Aug 28: Election petitions of various candidates, including those of the People’s Party Parliamentarians, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and National Alliance, were rejected by the Election Tribunal, Sindh, on Thursday.
The tribunal, headed by Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Laghari of the Sindh High Court, dismissed an election petition filed by the MMA’s candidate Mohammad Muslim against MQM’s MPA Mohammad Idrees Siddiqui, citing the inability of the petitioner to prove his case.
Mr Muslim had challenged results of provincial assembly constituency of PS-103 Karachi, accusing his rival candidate of resorting to rigging during the polling in the general elections 2002.
The allegations had been denied by the respondent, saying that the said election had been held in accordance with the law.
In a related development, the same tribunal dismissed another election petition filed by the MQM candidate against MMA’s MPA Hafiz Mohammad Naeem.
The petitioner, Tasnimul Hasan Farooqui, had challenged the inclusion of areas of other constituency in the election for the provincial assembly constituency, PS-91 Karachi-III vide a notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
He had alleged that the notification had affected the election results, subsequently resulting in his defeat in the general election 2002.
He had also accused his rival candidate of rigging during polling in several of the polling stations.
The respondent had replied by stating the petitioner had not filed any complaint against the constituency’s delimitation through a notification issued on Sept 14, 2002, adding that he (the petitioner) had accepted the list and had contested the election.
He also submitted before the election tribunal that the ECP had also asked voters’ opinion about the inclusion of areas in PS-91 but the petitioner had filed no objection in this regard.
He stated that the Representation of People Act 1976 and other relevant rules had not been violated, adding that the returning officer had prepared polling scheme in accordance with Section 8 of the said Act.
It was observed that the petitioner had secured highest votes from disputed areas, therefore, results had not materially affected even if it was assumed that areas that were not part of constituency had been wrongly included.
The court, while dismissing the petition, held that the petitioner had been unable to produce any material showing that by such defect, allegedly committed by the returning officer, results of election had been materially affected.
Meanwhile, an election petition of the National Alliance’s candidate, Dr Bahadur Khan Dehri, filed against the PPP’s MPA Sardar Jam Tamachi.
The NA’s candidate had challenged results of the provincial assembly constituency PS-28 Nawabshah-V besides questioning the authenticity of the respondent’s graduation degree.
The petitioner had alleged that the respondent was not a graduate at the time of filling nomination papers before the returning officer.
Written comments had been filed on behalf of the respondent, denying allegations of rigging in the elections. The respondent had also denied that the graduation degree had been obtained by way of manipulation in connivance of the Sindh University’s officials.
The Tribunal, in its order for the dismissal of the petition, held that the petitioner had failed to establish his allegations, adding that the petition “is without any substance.”—PPI