SHC dismisses PTI candidate’s plea for vote recount

The Sindh High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate’s petition who sought a recount of the votes cast in provincial assembly constituency PS-128 Karachi during the July 25 general elections.

The petitioner, Nusrat Anwar, wanted a recount of the votes polled in PS-128 in which Muttahida Qaumi Movement candidate Mohammad Abbas Jaffery was declared a returned candidate.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the PTI candidate had obtained 27,771 votes against Jaffery’s 29,480 votes.

He stated that there was a difference of 1,500 votes, alleging that his client’s ballots were not counted properly due to discrepancies in vote count forms of 35 polling stations.

The counsel submitted that his client had filed the application for a vote recount with the returning officer, who rejected the plea though it was his responsibility to carry out the recount as per Section 95 of the Election Act. A division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar dismissed the petition, and directed the petitioner to approach the election tribunal for a decision on any election-related dispute.

The court directed the election tribunal to decide the application for a vote recount on a priority basis if filed by the petitioner within one month strictly in accordance with the law.

UTP’s plea

The Sindh High Court directed the investigation officer and the superintendent prisons to submit a report with regard to pending cases against an under-trial prisoner who had been in jail since December 12, 2013.

Qamar Zaib said in a petition that he was arrested by police in Lyari area on December 12, 2013, and implicated in false cases by the Counter Terrorism Department.

He submitted that he was released in seven anti- terrorism cases but despite his release in those cases he was arrested against and was not being produced before the trial court.

He requested the court to direct the police to provide details of the remaining pending cases if any and release him if not required in any cases.