Previous 1 / 24 Next

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PAKISTAN (Appellate Jurisdiction) PRESENT: MR. JUSTICE SH. AZMAT SAEED. MR. JUSTICE IJAZ UL AHSAN. MR. JUSTICE QAZI MUHAMMAD AMIN AHMED. Civil Appeal No.188 of 2019 Against judgment dated 15.01.2019 of the High Court of Sindh, Bench at Sukkur, passed in Election Petition No.S-01 of 2018. Nida Khuhro. Appellant(s) Versus Moazzam Ali Khan and others Respondent(s) For the Appellant(s): Sardar M. Latif Khan Khosa, Sr. ASC. Ch. Akhtar Ali, AOR. For Respondent No.1: Mr. Salah-ud-Din Ahmed, ASC. Date of Hearing: 01.08.2019. ORDER IJAZ UL AHSAN, J-. The Appellant calls into question a judgment dated 15.01.2019 of an Election Tribunal of the High Court of Sindh, Bench at Sukkur. Through the impugned judgment, an Election Petition bearing No.S-01 of 2018 filed by the Appellant was dismissed. 2. Briefly stated the facts necessary for disposal of the lis in hand are that the Appellant contested General Election, 2018 alongwith Respondent No.1 and others. Respondent No.1 was declared as the Returned Candidate. The Appellant sought a declaration from the Election Tribunal that the nomination papers of Respondent No.1 were invalid inter alia on the ground that he had filed a false declaration of assets. As such, it was prayed that the election of Respondent

Select target paragraph3

● ● ●

Khuhro v. Khan

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether misstatements on the candidate’s election papers are sufficient to declare an election void.

Alleged Acts: The appellant contests the election results on the grounds that the prevailing candidate made false declaration on the candidacy documents. The appellant sought a declaration that the election results were void and that the election be reordered. The appellant argues that the candidate made false declarations my misstating assets of himself and his dependents. However, the respondent states that the representation made on the candidacy documents are from misunderstanding on property documents and the difference of 140 reported acres of land stems from the candidate solely reporting the property in his direct control and ownership. The candidate further stated that there was no ill intent behind the omission because there would be no measurable advantage in the land acreage difference.

Summary: Declaring an election void requires an invalid candidacy, illegal, or corruption actions. The evidentiary burden requires that a false statement be intentional under the circumstances. The court found and the respondent admitted that he did not declare his entire land holdings, as asserted by the appellant. Section 137(4) permits candidates may face legal liability with 120 days from the date of submission if he commits and offense or corrupt practice. The respondent made no effort to fix the mistakes in the asset report. Further, the court determined that the respondent was aware of the land transfer back into his name as early as 2014.

Conclusion: The court determined that the respondent concealed his assets and did so not by mistake or clerical error. Therefore, the election of the respondent was annulled and the Election Commission order to hold a new election for the position in the Provincial Assembly.

Legal Issue(s)

Candidate Registration
Electoral Integrity

Applicable Law(s): Pakistan Constitution Article 62(1)(f)

Region: Asia-Pacific

Country: Pakistan

Language of Decision

English

Court: Supreme Court

Election Type: General

Date of decision: Aug 1, 2019

Geolocation

Latitude: 33.84616314

Longitude: 73.04529661

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

Khuhro v. Khan.pdf
English
Download View