Omar Ayub’s constituency: IHC vacates stay order, tells ECP to take decision on rigging complaint

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has vacated a stay order stopping an investigation into rigging in opposition leader Omar Ayub’s constituency NA-18 Haripur and ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take a decision in accordance with the law after hearing the parties.

IHC Acting Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar issued the decision on the petition to stop the investigation into the alleged rigging.

Omar Ayub had challenged the ECP action and the July 10 order to investigate alleged rigging in his constituency, on which the court had issued a stay order.

During the hearing, Omar Ayub’s lawyer said the ECP has to decide on the application within 60 days, and the action in the commission after 60 days is illegal.

Omar Ayub had won the election by a huge margin, whose victory was also acknowledged by the opposing candidate and he himself tweeted about it.

On the other hand, the Election Commission’s lawyer had said in his arguments that Omar Ayub himself had first complained about rigging on the election day, and in the evening, when he won, the opposing candidate also filed a complaint about rigging. When the Election Commission started processing both the applications, Omar Ayub came to the high court. The Election Commission has not yet issued any action or order, so this application should be dismissed. The court had earlier reserved the decision after hearing the arguments of the parties.