LAHORE - Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan of the Lahore High Court yesterday stayed final result of local government election held in a union council of Nankana Sahib where women voters were not allowed to cast their vote.
The judge passed the order on a petition of a woman voter-Rukhsana Abbas and directed the chief election commissioner of Punjab to submit reply on the next hearing, Dec 2.
Justice Khan also took strong notice of the incident and observed that no one can deprive women from exercising their power of vote. He also remarked that “People were being pushed to stone-age even in 21st century. The judge restrained ECP from issuing notification of the returned candidates of the constituency and sought detailed report on the issue.
Rukhsana Abbas, a resident of Union Council 51 of district Nankana Sahib, filed the petition and pointed out that there were 296 women voters in Ward-I of UC-51 of Nankana Sahib.
However, he said, during the second phase of LG polls, the women were not allowed to cast their votes. She alleged that the candidates of the UC restricted the women of the constituency from participating in the polling.