Pleas against election tribunal decisions dismissed

LAHORE
A two-member bench of the Supreme Court Thursday dismissed petitions of three PML-N parliamentarians challenging decisions of election tribunal.
The bench headed by Justice Saqib Nisar remarked that interim orders of the election tribunal could not be challenged. It said only the final order could be challenged in a writ petition.
The petitioners had submitted that election tribunal Kazim Ali Malik was passing orders without listening to them. They said they had no confidence in the tribunal; therefore, his decisions should be declared illegal and petitions against their election should be transferred to some other tribunal.
MNA Malik Riaz, MPA Mohsin Latif and MPA Saiful Malook had challenged the decision of the tribunal wherein it had ordered recounting and inspection of votes polled on petitions of PTI defeated candidates.
Malik Riaz had challenged the decision of the LHC wherein it had dismissed his petition in October 2014 against recounting of votes. Riaz, MNA from NA-118 Lahore, had submitted that the election tribunal could not interfere in the matters of the election commission.
In the May 11, 2013 general elections, Malik had won the seat receiving 103,346 votes while runner-up Hamid Zaman of PTI had received 43,616 votes. The tribunal on August 17, 2014 had ordered the examination of an additional 117 bags of polled votes in Lahore’s PP-147 constituency where from PML-N’s Mohsin Latif had won.
Earlier, the polling bags were examined in PP-147 on the election tribunal’s directive where it was revealed that there had been a difference of 1,000 votes. MPA Mian Mohsin Latif had emerged victorious in the said constituency. The PTI had alleged that rigging had taken place in the constituency. Corroborating the claims about rigging in the 2013 general elections, the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) had revealed that votes’ verification in just six polling stations of PP-147 showed that 3,267 of the 4,726 votes could not be verified.
In October 2014, the LHC had dismissed a petition of PML-N MPA Saiful Malook Khokhar assailing inspection of ballots in PP-160, Lahore ordered by the election tribunal.
The petitioner through his counsel contended that the tribunal constituted a commission to hold inspection of the record on a plea moved by defeated candidate of PTI, Zaheer Abbas Khokhar. The counsel said the tribunal had limited powers under Representative of Peoples Act and could not appoint a commission for scrutiny of ballots. He asked the court to set aside the tribunal’s orders.