KARACHI, Nov 5: Senior lawyer Muneer A. Malik has accused former Supreme Court Bar Association president Malik Qayyum of reversing the mandate of the electorate that, he said, was rendered in his favour by democratic forces during the recent election of the bar.

Mr Malik, who was reported to have won the SCBA presidential election recently, said that according to media reports a recount of votes cast in the recent elections of the SCBA took place in Islamabad on Nov 4 under the supervision of Mr Qayyum, former president of the bar, and as a result of this official count, Raja Haq Nawaz had been declared elected as president of the SCBA having secured 605 votes with a margin of 29 votes over him.

Mr Malik said that he had fairly and squarely won the elections. He said that on the night between Oct 31 and Nov 1, according to the count made by the presiding officers at various polling stations, he had finished four votes ahead of his opponent Raja Haq Nawaz.

“The presiding officer at Lahore, Rana Zahid, refused to announce the result of the Lahore polling station on receipt of a telephone call from Mr Qayyum. He, however, gave me a count signed by him, the polling agent of Raja Haq Nawaz and my polling agent confirming that I had secured 285 votes from Lahore while Raja Haq Nawaz had secured 311 votes, although it was the stand of my polling agent that I had secured 287 votes as opposed to 309 for Raja Haq Nawaz. When asked to affix a seal on the ballot box, he stated that none had been provided to him by the SCBA nor did he have any. He put masking tape over the ballot box and despite repeated demands did not take the signatures of the polling agents over the tape. The ballot box remained in his custody and he delivered it to Mr Qayyum. Since my cumulative lead from the other seven polling stations was 30 votes, I had won the election by four votes,” he asserted.

Mr Malik further stated that the only dispute was whether his margin of victory was four votes or six votes. “The results were then tabulated by the administrative officer of the SCBA in Islamabad according to which I had won the election by four votes. This result was certified by the outgoing secretary, Ali Akbar Qureshi, and the outgoing Punjab vice-president, Zakaur Rehman, but Mr Qayyum refused to certify it. Purporting to act as a returning officer, he rigged the ballots that were cast and declared Raja Haq Nawaz as having been elected president,” he maintained.

He contended that there is no concept of a Returning Officer under the SCBA rules and it is evident that Mr Qayyum acted unlawfully.

He said that under Rule 14 every election should be conducted by the executive committee or a sub-committee appointed by it. Under Rule 14(c) read with Rule 13(ii) it was the committee that was responsible for holding of elections, unofficial count of votes, official count of votes including recount, if necessary, and consolidation and declaration of results. The Election Programme issued on Sept 12 under the signature of the secretary stated that the un-official and official count of votes shall be held on Oct 31. “Under Rule 14(d) the term of office-bearers and members of the committee shall be one year and expire on Oct 31 of the year. It is thus clear that Malik Qayyum had no lawful authority to act as he did,” he asserted.

Mr Malik went on to say that previous media reports suggested that Mr Qayyum had intended to hold a count in Islamabad on Nov 4 and, meanwhile, he had summoned a meeting of the newly-elected executive committee for the same day in Islamabad at 11am.

He said that on that morning when he reached the Supreme Court building he saw a large contingent of police stationed outside the building and outside the doors of all the offices of the SCBA on the first floor. “Entry was refused to even the employees of the association. I was left with no option but to hold a meeting of the new committee in the Bar Room on the ground floor. Eight members attended the meeting that I held while four others sent their written letters of support,” he said, adding that on the other hand Mr Qayyum bussed over 200 people to the library on the first floor and proceeded to recount the ballots and after some hours he proceeded to inform the media of his count.

He further stated that the entire sanctity of the contents of the ballot box of the Lahore Polling Station and the unsealed envelopes containing the election record of the other polling stations stood vitiated, as they had been in the illegal custody of Mr Qayyum. “The count of votes of Raja Haq Nawaz was increased from 591 to 695 while my count was reduced from 595 to 574,” he said.

Mr Malik said that during the election campaign, ex-SCBA president Mr Qayyum was an open supporter of Raja Haq Nawaz. “He held functions and meetings for his candidate at a number of stations including Lahore and Multan. He openly boasted that he had managed the result at the highest levels. It is clear that Mr Qayyum is bent upon reversing the mandate of the electorate that was rendered by the democratic forces of the bar in my favour,” he concluded.