LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) issued a written order, dismissing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Abid Sher Ali’s plea for a vote recount in NA-108 Faisalabad.
Hearing the petition yesterday, a single bench of the high court comprising Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh had announced a short order on the petition.
The petitioner was advised to approach the relevant forum against the verdict if need be.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Farrukh Habib had defeated Ali in the constituency by 1,200 votes.
It is pertinent to mention here that on August 3, the court had stopped the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from issuing Habib’s victory notification from the constituency. The bar ended after the dismissal of the petition.
The Supreme Court had suspended LHC’s order to re-tabulate results of the closely-contested NA-131 Lahore-9 constituency, from where PTI chief Imran Khan had stood victorious against PML-N’s Khawaja Saad Rafique.
Rafique had petitioned for a recount, alleging that the presiding officer deliberately rejected hundreds of votes. His legal counsel had contended that a recount request was valid if the victory margin was less than five per cent.
After hearing arguments of the petitioner, the apex court had suspended LHC’s ruling for re-tabulation and accepted Imran’s plea for hearing.
