35m ‘bogus’ voters removed from Nadra list, SC told
Sohail Khan
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan Monday informed the Supreme Court that 35 million unverified voters had been removed from the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) list while 36 million new voters had been included to the Nadra database.
A three-member bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, heard the petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) hairman Imran Khan against bogus votes in the electoral lists that were used in the 2008 general elections and due to which “fake assemblies” were formed then.
Appearing on a notice, Secretary Election Commission, Ishtiak Ahmed Khan, told the court that the authentication of voters would start from July 18 and be completed by August 16. He said the voters’ list would be completed by December 2011.
Khan said that for the verification of the voters, EC representatives would go door to door, and the list of voters would then be handed over to Nadra. He said it had been decided that photographs would be pasted on the voters’ list, but would be provided only to the presiding officer due of security reasons.
To a court query regarding the plea of the petitioner for introduction of electronic voting machine for voters in future general election, the EC secretary said the government had, in principle, decided to introduce such a system and had constituted committees in this regard. He added that while developed countries had introduced such a system, India took 22 years to introduce the system.
Hamid Khan, counsel for the petitioner and Iftikhar Gillani, counsel for one of the respondents, also appeared before the court. Meanwhile, the court directed the Election Commission to resolve within a reasonable time the issue of 28 lawmakers declared winners in by-elections. Under the 18th amendment by-polls could not be held without the reconstitution of the Election Commission.
The court directed the EC to consider the statement of the attorney general, who had earlier made a statement before the court that the by-polls held were invalid. The court directed that the elected representatives should be provided an opportunity to give their stance and details of the proceedings must be submitted before the court.
APP adds: The chief justice told the secretary that the proceedings should not be considered as adversorial but he should take it in the national interest. “It is an opportunity for you to rectify the wrong and set at rest for once the oft-repeated allegations after elections that these were rigged. After all we are a respectable nation and we should maintain transparency,” he observed.
Attorney General Molvi Anwarul Haq admitted that the relevant law should to be followed. He said to avoid duplicacy of vote cast, voters should be registered on the basis of their permanent addresses. He said that voters’ pictures should also be pasted on electoral lists to avoid impersonification. To his other contention, the Chief Justice told him that all the females were not willing to have snaps on their national identity cards and it was not compulsory under relevant rules.
Source: The News
Date:7/5/2011
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