ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday issued arrest warrant of the presiding officer of one of the polling stations of National Assembly’s seat NA-240 Korangi—Karachi – where foul play is alleged to have taken place in the by-election held in June this year.
A three-member ECP bench headed by Nisar Ahmed Durrani and comprising of Shah Muhammad Jatoi and Justice (retd) Ikramullah Khan heard the case related to alleged foul play during NA-240 by-poll and issued the bailable arrest warrant of the PO of polling station number 87 located in Zamanabad—Landhi in Korangi.
During the case hearing, a counsel for Mustafa Kamal, the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) head, alleged that Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) workers resorted to firing outside the PSP office during the polling day and shot one PSP worker dead.
He denied that Kamal visited any polling station during the by-poll, adding that he was not authorised to visit any polling station on the polling day. The counsel accused the Karachi Police of pursuing a partial investigation against Kamal and misleading the ECP.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Karachi Faisal Bashir Memon denied the allegations levelled against the police by Kamal’s lawyer, saying senior police officials of “integrity and repute” were probing the matter. He assured the ECP bench that impartial investigation would be carried out and justice would be served in this case.
Taking stock of the PO’s absence, the bench issued his arrest warrant and adjourned the case till August 10.
Last month, the ECP dismissed as unsatisfactory an inquiry report into alleged foul play in NA-240, suspended the district returning officer (DRO) and returning officer (RO) of this seat, and summoned the PSP chief in the next hearing— in connection with the case.
In that hearing, the ECP bench reviewed the inquiry report furnished by the inquiry committee headed by deputy inspector general (DIG) police Karachi East regarding NA-240 debacle.
SSP Korangi briefed the bench that the inquiry committee identified five persons found involved in the snatching/ stealing of ballot papers in polling station number 87 – who belonged to the PSP.
In addition, the inquiry report revealed that the deployment of police personnel was insufficient due to which police failed to control the groups that were involved in violence—and the presiding officer remained “confused” in dealing with the situation.
The inquiry report further revealed that the identity of the person who brought the ballot papers back to the police station was unknown.
“The real issue is to find out who brought the ballot papers back,” observed Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, who headed the five-member bench that heard the case.
TLP managed to give quite a tough time to Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) in the Korangi by-elections and lost this seat with a thin margin of only 65 votes.
Muhammad Abu Bakar from MQM-P bagged 10,683 votes followed by 10,618 votes received by Shahzada Shahbaz from TLP. Syed Rafiuddin from Muhajir Qaumi Movement got 8,383 votes. Nasir Raheem from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) ended up fourth with 5,248 votes and Shabbir Kaimkhani from PSP got 4,797 votes.
A total of 25 candidates were in the run for this seat that fall vacant due to the death of Iqbal Muhammad Ali Khan from MQM-P in April this year.
The by-election saw some incidents of violence involving firing and physical scuffles between rival groups in which one person was said to have lost his life. The related case is pending with the electoral body.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022