Waheeda Shah case: Supreme Court stops by-elections in Tando Muhammad Khan

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued a stay order against the holding of by-poll in Tando Muhammad Khan, PS-53, admitting the appeal of Waheeda Shah against Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and Sindh High Court (SHC) verdict.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk resumed hearing of the appeal, issuing a stay order against the by-poll slated on December 4 in Tando Muhammad Khan, PS 53.

On Nov 4, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Retd Justice Fakhrudin G Ebrahim had upheld the disqualification of Shah, a candidate who had slapped an election official during polling on Feb 25 in the by-election of the PS-53 constituency of Sindh Assembly. Her disqualification had barred her from being elected as a member of an assembly for two years.

According to the CEC’s verdict, Shah had been found guilty of slapping Presiding Officer Habiba Memon and others during the polling of by-elections at the polling station No 16 and had therefore been found guilty of interfering in the polling process.

The ECP had earlier taken serious notice of the incident and by a majority decision, thereafter directed the returning officer to take cognisance of the offence under the relevant section of the Representation of the People’s Act, 1976.

The returning officer, vide decision dated March 5, 2012, had convicted Shah of committing an offence under Section 86(3)(b) of the act and imposed a fine of Rs1,000 on her.

In pursuance thereof, on March 7, 2012, the ECP had declared the poll of PS-53 void under Section 103-AA of the Act and disqualified Shah from being elected as a member of an assembly for two years under Section 100 of the Act by separate majority decisions.

Subsequently, the Sindh High Court had maintained her conviction but quashed her disqualification on the ground that the power to disqualify under Section 100 of the Act rested exclusively with the Chief Election Commissioner and not with the Election Commission of Pakistan. She was subsequently declared disqualified by the CEC.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Nov 30 2012. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.