ISLAMABAD - Chief Justice of Pakistan said yesterday there might be lapses or mishandling in NA-125 but that does not prove manipulation of results.
Tehreek-e-Insaaf candidate, however, claimed the rigging was done before, on that day and after the election. “My case is rigging was pre, post and on the election day done,” said Ahmed Awais advocate, while appearing on behalf of the PTI leader.
Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique had defeated PTI’s leader Hamid Khan in the general elections 2013. Hamid had challenged the result in the Election Tribunal, which had declared the result null and void and ordered for re-election in NA-125. Kh Saad approached the apex court against the tribunal verdict.
A three-member bench, headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, heard an appeal of PML-N leader Kh Saad against the tribunal decision.
Ahmed Awais said the Form 14 of about 31 polling stations were either missing or not signed by the presiding officers. He said their polling agents were not allowed to sit at the time of consolidation of result. He said the Returning Officer (RO) should not have received Form 14 that were not signed or stamped by the POs.
The chief justice asked from the PTI lawyer if the votes of 31 polling stations, which they think are invalid are excluded then would that satisfy his client. Justice Azmat Saeed said if the votes of 31 polling stations are excluded even then Kh Saad is winner.
According to the figures of 31 polling stations that the PTI counsel had submitted before the bench on Wednesday the invalid votes of those stations are 36,758, while the PML-N leader had won the election from NA-125 with the margin of 38,921.
Awais said the 10 polling stations of NA-125, which the tribunal had selected to examine the element of rigging, out of them in seven stations the PTI candidate is winner.
Justice Qazi questioned under what law the tribunal has the power to randomly select polling stations in a constituency. He said: “If the Election Tribunal had adopted a unique procedure to declare the results rigged then the apex court is not bound to buy it.” The case is adjourned till today.