PTI leader seeks FIR against RO, DRO for ‘tampering with NA-238 poll result’

Sindh PTI president Haleem Adil Shaikh filed a petition with a sessions court on Monday, seeking registration of an FIR against the district returning officer and the returning officer of NA-238 for allegedly tampering with election results.

The former opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly, who contested the February 8 elections on the NA seat in District East, moved the petition under Section 22-A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), citing the SSP Complaint Cell (East) and Aziz Bhatti SHO as respondents.

The RO of NA-238, Farooq Ahmed Qazi, and DRO Altaf Ahmed Sheikh, along with three to four unknown persons, have been named proposed accused in the petition.

The petitioner through his lawyer Ashraf Samoo stated that as per the Forms-45 available with him, he secured 82,972 votes, while his rival candidate Sadiq Iftikhar of the MQM obtained 10,226 votes, but the RO and DRO colluded to show the MQM-P candidate’s votes as 54,884 in Form-47. “On March 5, Forms-45 were uploaded by the Election Commission on its official website, and bare reading of the Forms-45 of the constituency of NA-238 clearly shows that real votes of petitioner have been tampered with whit pen and overwriting is done, thereby reducing the petitioner’s vote by way of cheating,” he claimed.

The PTI leader alleged that the fake and forged documents were prepared knowingly to show the MQM-P candidate as returning candidate. “The DRO and RO have abused their official authority and committed offences punishable under sections 471, 468, 420 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code,” he added.

Sheikh said he submitted complaints to the respondents for lodging of a case against them but no action was taken, pleading with the court to order the SHO to record his statement and register an FIR against the proposed accused.