ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan has reinstated the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to conduct a recount of votes in three National Assembly (NA) constituencies.
The verdict was delivered on Monday by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justices Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi.
The decision relates to recounting of votes in various polling stations in NA-154, NA-81 and NA-79.
The case arose after Azhar Qayum Nahra of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) challenged the decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) to stay his victory announcement from NA-81.
The Supreme Court overturned the previous decision of the LHC and reinstated the election supervision directive for the recount.
The court allowed the appeal filed by the PML-N candidates by a 2-1 majority. Justice Aqeel Abbasi dissented from the majority decision.
Following the SC decision, PML-N members Azhar Qayum Nahra, Abdul Rehman Kanju and Zulfiqar Ahmed were reappointed as members of the National Assembly.
A petition for recount of constituencies NA-154 (Lodhran), NA-81 (Gujranwala) and NA-79 (Gujranwala) was filed in the high court, leading to this decision.
A retelling of the case
Three PTI-affiliated independent candidates – Rana Faraz Noon from NA-154, Bilal Ejaz from NA-81 Gujranwala and Ehsanullah Wark from NA-79 Gujranwala – were initially declared successful in the general election.
However, PML-N candidates Abdul Rehman Kanju, Azhar Qayum Nahra and Zulfiqar Ahmed asked the ECP for a recount. After the recount, the ECP declared the PML-N candidates as winners.
The ECP declared Nahra the winner by a margin of 3,100 votes, although at least 10,000 of Nahra’s votes were invalidated during the recount.
The independent candidates challenged the ECP’s decision in the LHC, the court overturned the commission’s decision and returned the original winner.
The PML-N members then appealed to the SC against the LHC’s decision. The Supreme Court, by a majority decision, restored the ECP’s decision and approved the appeal of the PML-N candidates.
