Islamabad High Court Directs Election Commission Of Pakistan To Hear Faisal Saleh's Recounting Appeal As Per Law

Rukhshan Mir (@rukhshanmir) Published August 03, 2018 | 08:32 PM

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hear the request of Pakistan People's Party (PPP)'s candidate from NA-114 Faisal Saleh Hayat for recounting of votes in accordance of law and disposed off the petition.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Aug, 2018 ) :The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hear the request of Pakistan People's Party (PPP)'s candidate from NA-114 Faisal Saleh Hayat for recounting of votes in accordance of law and disposed off the petition.

Justice Aamer Farooq of IHC announced the judgment that was earlier reserved by the bench on the petition of Hayat challenging returning officer's decision rejecting his recounting request.

The counsel for the PPP's candidate contended that the returning officer in NA-114 had stopped the practice after recounting of ten poling stations.

Justice Aamer Farooq asked, "Can this court issue order for recounting once the announcement of results?" The counsel replied that RO was a representative of ECP and the department could take action against his irregularity.

The ECP's counsel Mehboob Sultan argued that the petitioner had filed a review application against RO's decision after the time bar.

Meanwhile, the same bench sent the matters to ECP regaridng recounting requests of PPP's five candidates from Sindh and one of MQM.

During the proceeding, Justice Aamer Farooq remarked that the returning officers were authorized for recounting in those Constituencies where the winning candidates have less than five percent votes margin. The bench could only issue orders against the decisions of ECP not against the ROs.

The counsel for ECP adopted the stance that the commission was hearing the complaints against the ROs decisions, any candidate could file complain to the ECP against RO of his constituency.

The bench adjourned hearing on the pleas of Pakistan Tehreeke Insaf (PTI)'s Ali Asghar Khan and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N)'sIsrar Ahmed till Monday.