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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN (Appellate Jurisdiction) Present: MR. JUSTICE MUSHIR ALAM MR. JUSTICE QAZI FAEZ ISA MR. JUSTICE SAJJAD ALI SHAH CIVIL PETITION NO. 4682 OF 2017 (Against the judgment dated 02.11.2017 of the Lahore High Court, Lahore passed in Intra Court Appeal No. 1839 of 2015) Ejaz Ahmed Sandhu and another. … Petitioners VERSUS Election Commission of Pakistan through Chief Election, Commissioner, Islamabad and others. … Respondents For the Petitioners : Sh. Zamir Hussain, ASC. Syed Rifaqat Hussain Shah, AOR (absent). For the Respondents : Not represented. Date of Hearing : 31.05.2018. JUDGMENT QAZI FAEZ ISA, J. The petitioners had contested the local government elections from Union Council No. 91, Takhatpur, District Sialkot, which were held on December 5, 2015. After the poll had closed the Presiding Officer of Polling Station No. 5 Uncha Paharang was taking the ballot papers that had been cast to the Returning Officer when he was set upon by armed men and the ballot papers were taken away from him at gunpoint. The Presiding Officer reported the matter to the police and FIR No. 449 of 2015 of the crime was lodged on the same day. The incident was reported to the Election Commission of Pakistan (“Election Commission”) and the Election Commission on December 10, 2015

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Sandhu v. Election Commission of Pakistan

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether a repoll is necessary due to an intervening crime.

Alleged Acts: The petitioners in the contest the local government elections on December 5, 2015 because the ballot papers from Polling Station No. 5 were taken from the Returning Officer at gunpoint before they could be transported. The Returning Officer reported the incident that day and on December 10, 2015 the Election Commission order a repolling for a number of polling stations. Before the repolling could take place, the petitioners brought the case before the court.

Procedural history: The Judge of the High Court dismissed the petition on December 21, 2015 and stated that the Election Commission was responsible for fixing a polling date in the impacted constituency. In petitioners appealed the case to the Intra Court Appeal and that case was dismissed on November 2, 2017.

Summary: When the case was heard, the petitioners stated that the polling, as ordered, still have not taken place. Further, the petitioner stated that the Election Commission was not given the ability to re-poll in any particular provision. The court stated that a repoll was necessary to maintain the integrity of elections and to preserve the right to vote in the election districts where the ballots were stolen and that the Election Commission had the ability to order the repoll. The impact of a repoll would not be an adverse impact on any of the candidates or voters since none of the votes could be counted from that jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The court dismissed the petition and stated that the repoll must occur.

Legal Issue(s)

Electoral Integrity
Vote Verification and Transmission

Region: Asia-Pacific

Country: Pakistan

Language of Decision

English

Court: Supreme Court

Election Type: General

Date of decision: May 31, 2018

Geolocation

Latitude: 33.84616314249099

Longitude: 73.04529660852897

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

Sandhu v. Election Commission of Pakistan.pdf
english
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