Lahore:
The High Court of Lahore (LHC) confirmed the decision to dismiss a civil judge who, while acting as a return officer (RO) during a local election, facilitated the rigging.
A bench of three members of LHC, led by judge Sajid Mahmood Sethi, unveiled his written order on a appeal filed by the former judge, Sheikh Ali Jafar.
Sheikh Ali Jafar was previously appointed RO for an election of the Union Council at Shahkot Tehsil of Punjab.
During this election, the candidate Asghar Ali Asghar was the winner, but the civil judge said that Maqbool Ahmed a Javed as a winner. Asghar then filed a complaint with the DRO.
Based on a DRO letter, the Pakistan Electoral Commission (ECP) ordered a spare of the results. A report was sent to the ECP, after which an official complaint was recorded.
The LHC registrar rejected Jafar in March 2006.
The service court suspended the dismissal order in October 2008, and the higher judiciary confirmed the court’s decision, while declaring that misconduct could not be proven without an official investigation.
However, after an investigation, the relevant authority again rejected the civil judge of the service in June 2015. The judge filed a ministerial appeal, which was rejected in September 2015. He later contested the LHC order.
The verdict said that the election results were changed a month after the issuance of the original results.
The number of votes of the winning candidate was reduced in various polling stations and the candidate’s votes were redistributed among the lost candidates. According to a witness, when the investigation began, the civil judge pleaded for forgiveness in the name of God of the complainant.
The DRO testified that the electoral file had been falsified. The court was to decide whether the civil judge had the power to modify a declared electoral result – it was one of the key questions.
