Ayaz Sadiq challenges tribunal decision in SC

LAHORE: The deseated National Assembly Speaker, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, on Monday challenged the decision of an election tribunal on a by-election in his constituency, NA-122, in the Supreme Court.
In an appeal filed at the Lahore Registry of the SC through advocates Khawaja Saeed-uz-Zaffar and Shahid Hamid, the former MNA asked the court to set aside the election tribunal’s order for being against the facts and law.
The tribunal, led by Kazim Ali Malik, on Aug 22 had annulled the result of NA-122, allowing a petition of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold the by-election in the constituency. Imran had lost his 2013 general election against Ayaz Sadiq in this constituency.
The appellant stated that a bare perusal of the interim orders passed during the course of the proceedings by the tribunal showed the bias of the judge, Kazim Malik.
He said the tribunal did not decide the issue of maintainability even after recording evidence despite his own orders to this effect. He said the tribunal unjustly penalised him for not filing a reply within three days though knowing that he was abroad.
Ayaz Sadiq said the attitude of the tribunal was summed up in the remark made in para-7 of the impugned decision “that time has come to speak out bitter truth in utter disregard of the doctrine of necessity-cum-expediency” is yet further confirmation of the bias.
He pleaded that the tribunal altogether failed to note that respondent (Imran Khan) did not place on record any document or postal receipt proving that copy of the election petition had been served on the appellant prior to the filing of the election petition.
The appellant said Imran admitted in his cross-examination that his statement/affidavit was based entirely on information provided to him by his chief polling agent who, however, was not produced before the tribunal as a witness.
Therefore, he said, the respondent’s statement was hearsay and an adverse presumption had to be drawn against him as there was complete failure to produce the best evidence in terms of Article 129(g) of the Qanoon-e-Shahadat Order 1984.
The appellant further said the tribunal found no evidence whatever that any corrupt and/or illegal practices had been committed in connivance with the returned candidate (the appellant).
Ayaz Sadiq stated that in arriving at this finding that the election merited to be declared void as a whole, the tribunal had apparently been influenced by procedural lapses of polling staff with respect to counterfoils. In this behalf, he said, the tribunal failed to see that the prescribed procedure with respect to counterfoils relates to identification of voters before they were issued ballot papers. The procedure laid down more than one means of identifying voters viz CNIC numbers, thumb impressions, photo on electoral roll and through challenge by the polling agent(s) of the contesting candidates.
He pleaded that the impugned order was based on misreading and non-reading of relevant evidence, and also on a whole incorrect appreciation of the commission report and the Nadra reports and the law applicable thereto.
He said the tribunal altogether failed to appreciate that only those votes were invalid which fail the test laid down in Section 38(4) of ROPA 1976 and was based entirely on unsustainable conjectures and surmises.
The former speaker asked the court to set aside the tribunal order and also give him stay as an immediate relief till the final decision on his appeal.