ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court allowed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to hold elections in four polling stations of PB-9 Kohlu, Balochistan on April 24.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan and comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, on Monday, heard an appeal of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Nawab Changez Marri against the ECP’s order to hold re-poll in four polling stations of PB-9.

Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Mir Naseebullah Marri had challenged the victory of the PML-N candidate.

Nawab Chengez in the 8th February general elections won from PB-9. However, due to disturbance, the election could not be held in four polling stations of the said constituency.

The PPP candidate, Mir Naseebullah had prayed to the ECP to hold re-poll in seven polling stations instead of four. On February 16 re-polling was arranged, but due to terrorist attacks, the re-polling could be not organised in three polling stations of the constituency.

Nawab’s lawyer informed the bench that on February 28, the ECP had issued notification of his victory. However, on March 12, the Commission decided to conduct re-poll in four stations without giving any solid reasons.

The ECP’s counsel said that ballot papers for re-poll in four polling stations have been printed.

Justice Azhar said that the ECP had submitted that the reason for holding re-poll was unnatural turnout in the constituency. He observed that in Balochistan, the turnout of women remains low.

PML-N’s Nawab Changez Marri was declared a winner from PB-9 Kohlu with 7,544 votes while the runner-up candidate was Mir Naseebullah Marri with 6,277 votes.

Meanwhile, the same bench in a case of women reserved seats of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), issued notice to the ECP, the Attorney General for Pakistan and Sadaaf Ahsan.

Kamran Murtaza, appearing on behalf of the JUI-F, told the bench that the Commission had issued a successful notification of Sadaaf Ahsan instead of Sadaaf Yasmeen. He contended that the party had not nominated Sadaaf Ahsan.

However, Justice Mazhar noted that in nomination papers before the Commission, Sadaaf Ahsan’s name is mentioned there. Kamran said they would withdraw the challenge if Sadaaf Ahsan showed the party ticket issued to her.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024