Once boxes are opened: Form 45 or 75 doesn’t have any status: CJP Isa

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa on Thursday observed that once the (ballot) boxes are opened, Form 45 or 75 does not have any status.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by the CJP, dismissed the petition of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Ghulam Rasool on recounting of votes of Balochistan Assembly Constituency PB-14, Naseerabad.

The court declared that there was no evidence of the allegations on record and upheld the victory of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) candidate Muhammad Khan Lehri at the Naseerabad seat.

During the hearing, Justice Isa observed that Form 45 has no importance in front of votes, adding that the most important evidence in elections are votes while Form 45 is filled by the presiding officers.

Arguing before the court, the petitioner’s counsel accused the presiding officers of fraud and contended that the officers had produced wrong results after re-polling at seven polling stations of the constituency. At this, the CJP asked the counsel as to how did he know that the wrong result was prepared.

The counsel replied the presiding officers were biased and they did not prepare the result according to Form 45. The chief justice, however, observed that once the boxes are opened, Form 45 or 75 does not have any status.

Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, addressing the counsel, said that the presiding officers presented the original record while he was running the case on copies. “Even your witnesses have wrongly named the presiding officers and could not even prove themselves as polling agents,” the judge told the counsel. The chief justice told the counsel that his claim was wrong, adding that he should either raise an objection on the recounting or that the boxes were open. “But your case is that the presiding officers are biased against you and you did not object to the recount.”

Addressing the counsel, Justice Shahid Bilal said that this was a very simple case, but the records do not prove the allegations. The counsel, however, contended that his client was declared a liar.

Justice Isa observed that they decide the case on the basis of facts, adding that it was not a case of husband and wife who would decide on truth and lie. He said that the decision was on the record and asked the counsel to prove the bias of presiding officers.

“Tell me if they were relatives,” the CJP asked the counsel, adding that even if the presiding officer has any enmity, the decision is made by vote and Form 45 has no importance before the votes. When the counsel again accused the presiding officers and said that all the fraud was done by them, the chief justice asked the counsel not to blame anyone but present legal grounds and facts that the presiding officers were biased. Meanwhile, the court upheld the victory decision of PMLN candidate from PB-14 and rejected the plea for recounting at seven polling stations.