LAHORE: The election tribunal on Monday asked counsels of Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan for final arguments on an application seeking verification of NA-122 voters’ thumb impression through Nadra.
Advocate Anees Hashmi, the counsel of PTI Chief Imran Khan, contended that the local commission held inspection and found lots of discrepancies in the record. He argued that perusal of the record showed that the alleged rigging was pre-planned and not a result of negligence of polling staff. He requested the tribunal for verification of the thumb impression of voters.
However, Barrister Asjad Saeed, the counsel of Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said that the verification of the thumb impressions at this stage would be a waste of time and money.
Barrister Saeed stated that Director General of Nadra had also admitted this fact that the life of the ink used for imprinting thumb impressions in the 2013 polls was only between 4 to 6 hours after opening, whereas the polling started at 8 am and concluded at 6pm, i.e. lasting 10 hours.
He further said all CNIC numbers issued until 2005 could not be used for verification of mobile phone SIMs as new thumb impressions have to be taken for the verification.
The tribunal, however, adjourned the proceedings until Feb 27, with directions to the counsels of both parties to come up with final arguments. –Staff Reporter