ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Tuesday declared Maulana Abdul Malik Wazir as winner from NA-41 Wana, South Waziristan Agency and ordered the Election Commission (EC) to notify his victory as per election result.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, also set aside the verdict of the Peshawar High Court, which had upheld the order of the EC of re-polling at two polling stations of NA-41.
Maulana Abdul Malik Wazir, who had contested the election as an independent candidate, had unofficially won the election from NA-41, Wana, South Waziristan, bagging 2,160 votes. The Election Commission had, however, ordered re-polling at two polling stations of the constituency on the grounds that the election result sent to it (EC) was hand-written, which was a violation of election laws.
Maulana Abdul Malik had filed an election petition in the Peshawar High Court against the EC’s order of re-polling, which stayed the notification of the election result till disposal of the case but declined to stop re-polling.
Later he moved the Supreme Court contending that there was no reason for re-polling at two polling stations and the EC’s order of re-polling was without any justification and had no legal effect.
The opponent of Maulana Abdul Malik, Ghalib Khan advocate, who also lost the election as an independent candidate securing 1,291 votes had claimed that he had won the election during the recounting of votes.
