ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday annulled the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) order on the recount of votes in six union councils of Karachi. Islamabad High Court Justice Sardar Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan announced the verdict on Jamaat-e-Islami’s (JI) plea to stop the recount, saying that the reasons for terminating the order of the ECP will be given in a detailed verdict.
Islamabad High Court on Karachi LB polls
JI lawyers Hasan Javed Shorosh and Qaiser Imam, and the Election Commission of Pakistan officials and lawyers of other parties and candidates also appeared in the IHC. On March 22, the decision of the ECP’s was challenged in a petition filed by Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi’s Naib Ameer, Raja Arif Sultan.
Following the appeal, the court had stayed the execution of the electoral body’s orders about the recount in the 6 union councils of the city until the next hearing. IHC had then issued notices to all candidates of union councils (UCs) on which it had stopped a recount of votes.
The court had also observed that all candidates from the UCs must be heard before the verdict about re-polling is made. The court said that the Election Commission of Pakistan should have also held re-polling on the union councils if there was evidence of rigging during the past elections.
JI had made claims about post-poll rigging and challenged the recount in UCs. The IHC observed that it was the job of the Election Commission of Pakistan to ensure free, fair, and transparent polls.
