LHC Pindi bench issues notices to 10 respondents
RAWALPINDI- A division bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi on Thursday issued notices to ten respondents in a petition filed by former minister and independent candidate from NA-57 Attock-1 Malik Amin Aslam Khan wherein he prayed to restrain Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP) from notifying the election result of the constituency.
The bench comprising Justice Muhammad Akram Qureshi and Justice Kazim Ali Malik issued these directions in the petition, and fixed March 4, 2008 next date for hearing.
Malik Amin Aslam moved the court through advocate Malik Qamar Afzal under Article 199 of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, making ECP through its Secretary, District Returning Officer (Tariq Abbasi) District Attock, Returning Officer, NA-57, returned candidate Sheikh Aftab Ahmad and other contesting candidates respondents in the petition.
In his petition, Amin Aslam, who lost elections to Sheikh Aftab Ahmad of Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz by a margin of 348 votes, sought the re-counting of all rejected votes.
The petitioner stated that total 7066 votes were rejected and he requested to the RO for the recount of the rejected votes, which he did.
In the recounting by RO, out of a total 236 only 150 polling stations could be physically checked and out of those 150, 24 polling stations had no envelopes carrying rejected ballot papers.
The petitioner said that out of these 24 polling stations, 20 were won by winning candidate Sheikh Aftab Ahmad.
He further said it was established as an illegality on the part of the RO and the winner by not bringing the record of the rejected votes of remaining 184 polling stations and had all the rejected votes counted there and then the situation would have been clear. This has resulted in the narrow defeat of the petitioner, he added.
Amin Aslam appealed to the ECP for the recounting of total rejected voted but his request was denied.
Making the ECP though its secretary, district returning officer Attock, RO and seven other contesting candidates respondents, Malik Amin Aslam prayed to the court that the RO should be directed to produce all rejected votes from all poling stations for the recounting and the unofficial result announced by the RO should be declared null and void till all rejected votes are recounted.
Source: The Nation
Date:2/29/2008
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