LAHORE, Pakistan: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by the Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq against the election tribunal’s decision of vote audit in Lahore’s NA-122 constituency.
Sardar Ayaz Sadiq had challenged the election tribunal’s verdict regarding the opening of ballot bags in NA-122 constituency in the LHC on Monday.
The IHC judge Justice Ijazul Hassan while hearing the case in Lahore on Tuesday said that petition filed by Sadiq was non-maintainable as decisions of election tribunals could not be challenged before high courts.
The speaker National Assembly in his another petition had also accused the tribunal judge Kazim Ali Malik of committing contempt of court by ordering vote audit in NA-122. But the IHC judge also dismissed that petition.
Sadiq announced following the LHC’s decision that he would challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court, saying that ruling by the provincial court was contrary to the law.
On December 8, the tribunal judge Kazim Ali Malik had issued the directives on a request made by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, seeking opening the ballot bags in NA-122 constituency to investigate allegations of rigging in the May 2013 general elections.
The Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz’s (PML-N) Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who later became the Speaker National Assembly, had won the seat in last year elections from NA-122 by securing 93,362 votes while Imran Khan remained runner up with 84,417 votes.
The NA-122 is one of the four constituencies where the PTI had sought a recount and verification of voters’ thumb impressions.
