The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday dismissed a petition of a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader, who was earlier declared the returned candidate for the PS-112 Keamari by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), against the recounting of votes in 26 polling stations of the constituency.
The PTI’s Sirbuland Khan had filed a petition against the ECP order of recounting of votes of 26 polling stations of the constituency and issuance of Form 49. A counsel for the petitioner, Ali Tahir, submitted that Khan had already been declared the returned candidate from the constituency and he had also taken oath as a Sindh Assembly member.
He submitted that the ECP, despite issuance of the official notification, had directed the returning officer to recount the votes of 26 polling stations of PS-112, including rejected votes, in the presence of the petitioner and other contesting candidates in accordance with the law and prepare the Form 49 accordingly.
The counsel submitted that the petitioner had no efficacious remedy except to approach the court for reasons that against an order passed under the section 8 of the Election Act, no remedy power was provided to the election tribunal constituted for such purposes.
He submitted that the ECP had no jurisdiction to recount the votes after consolidation of results. The high court was requested to set aside the ECP order and restrain it from passing any new notification after recounting of votes.
The respondent’s counsel submitted that the ECP had issued the order in accordance with the law and there was several judgments of superior courts in this matter and requested the court to dismiss the petition. A division bench of the high court headed by SHC Chief Justice Mohammad Shafi Siddiqui after hearing the arguments of the counsel, for reasons to be recorded later on, dismissed the petition.