Notice issued to ECP over horse trading

LAHORE - The Lahore High Court Wednesday issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan over alleged horse trading in Senate polls.  Kanwar Dilshad, former Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan, had moved the petition through his counsel Advocate Baqir Hussain. He said the Senate election was the worst example of mismanagement and corruption as the huge horse trading was done by the political moguls.  It was all because of the failure of Election Commission of Pakistan, the counsel said.  The counsel asked the court to set aside the results of the recent Senate election and stop the ECP from issuing notification for the successful candidates.  After hearing initial arguments of the petitioner’s counsel, Justice Shahid Karim of the LHC issued notices to the ECP and put off further proceedings till April 02. About the same matter, Judicial Activism Panel Chairman Advocate Azhar Siddique wrote a letter to the ECP, requesting it not to issue notification to the newly elected candidates of Senate elections. The lawyer said the notification of the successful candidates should not be issued until and unless the evidences of alleged horse trading in Senate polls were brought o justice.  He asked the ECP that record of the candidates about their assets, income and tax as well as dual nationality should be determined, and asked it to make these part of the nomination papers under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

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