Dir LG by-poll: PHC stays JI candidate’s victory over women’s disenfranchisement

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday stayed the victory of the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) candidate in the recent by-election for a tehsil council seat in Shahikhel area in Lower Dir district over the alleged disenfranchisement of women.

A single-member bench of Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth issued the stay order. It directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) not to notify the JI’s candidate victory till decision in the case.

The ECP also raised an objection through provincial Election Commission, claiming that the petition was not maintainable under Article 199 of the Constitution.

The commission said the petitioners should first file a petition with the ECP.

The bench heard the ECP’s representative, Muhammad Riaz, on the jurisdiction issue. He informed the court that under the Election Act 2017, the ECP had the powers to declare the election null and void when there was less than 10 percent votes polled by female voters in an election. In reply to the objection, the petitioners’ lawyer, Muzammil Khan submitted that under Article 143 of the Constitution the law passed by the Parliament prevailed over other laws including the local government and Representation of Peoples Act.

The lawyer submitted that the ECP should have taken action on its own when women voters were denied the right to vote. Muzammil Khan submitted that the right to vote was an inalienable right of every citizen of the country whether it was general election or local body elections. He said Section 9 of the Elections Act 2017 provided that if the turnout of women voters was less than 10 percent of the total votes polled during elections in a constituency, the ECP might presume that women voters were restrained from casting votes through an agreement and therefore, it might declare polling at one or more polling stations or across the constituency void. The bench rejected the ECP’s objection and issued notice to ECP, returning officer, provincial Finance Minister Muzaffar Said and winning candidate Gul Hakim Khan to submit written replies by January 12. The petition was jointly filed by the losing candidates Inayatur Rehman, Dilawar Khan, Manzoor Ahmad, Fazal Wahab and Hisamuddin, and women voters including Bakhtmina, Baitul Miraj, Haseen Zeba, Khaest Begum and Miraj Bibi. The women voters through affidavit had claimed in the petition that they were barred from casting vote in the election.

The petitioners’ counsel argued that ahead of the by-polls, finance minister Muzaffar Said had begun pre-poll rigging for his party’s candidate, Gul Hakeem, and launched Rs300 million worth of development works in the area. He added that cash payment was also made to the voters to manipulate the by-election.

The lawyer claimed that on polling day when women voters came to the polling station, only two of them managed to enter the premises while other women were stopped from stepping in.

He added that the doors of polling stations were closed by local nazim Fazal Qadir and JI candidate Gul Hakim. The lawyer said the two women voters, who had entered the polling station, were detained there for some time before being allowed to leave the premises through the back door.