The Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday to submit the complete record of electoral lists of Badin provincial assembly constituency PS-57 today (Wednesday),
The seat was vacated due to the resignation of former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza.
The SHC division bench including Justice Maqbool Baqar and Justice Nisar Muhammad Shaikh ordered the ECP to present the record of voter lists of 2007 and 2012 on a petition filed by former Sindh minister Syed Ali Bux Shah alias Papoo Shah, a candidate contesting the upcoming by-poll.
Shah’s counsel Advocate Abdul Mujeeb Pirzada argued before the court that according to the Supreme Court decision, elections should be conducted through transparent electoral lists, but the ECP had changed the computerised electoral lists by old manual lists. “According to laws, no changes could be made after the announcement of election schedule and neither new voters can be entered in the lists nor any omitted, but the names of recommendee and secondier are omitted from the list,” he said.
Advocate Anwar Mansoor Khan, the counsel of Shah’s rival candidate Hasnain Mirza, contended that the Supreme Court had ordered to conduct the next general elections through computerised lists not any by-elections.
The petitioner had submitted that pre-poling rigging has started for the upcoming by-election in Badin district, as around 19,000 votes were cancelled on the government’s wish.
In his petition, Shah quoted the Section 10, Electoral Act 1974, according to which in case of cancellation and admission of new votes, consent may be taken from the people of the constituency. “However, in Badin neither any consent nor any objection or advice was taken from the people,” he stated.
In another case, the same divisional bench directed the Sindh government to either pay the salaries and allowances of the employees of district judiciary equivalent to the high court’s employees or file a petition against the SHC order.
The court in its order stated that if the decision is not followed, the provincial chief secretary and finance secretary must explain the position in the court.
