Bogus voter lists case : SC orders door-to-door checks with army-FC help

* JI hails verdict, says judiciary has again represented aspirations of masses

KARACHI: The Supreme Court (SC) in its verdict over bogus voter lists in Karachi has directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to verify voters in the city by conducting a door-to-door check with the help of the army and the Frontier Constabulary.

A three-member bench of apex court comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed heard the petitions filed by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), claiming that around 300,000 votes of people in Karachi were registered outside the city.

Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed read the 24-page verdict on Wednesday. In the verdict, the apex court said that it was necessary to correct the list in the city. The bench also directed the EC to seek the army and the FC help during door-to-door verification process.

During proceedings of the case, the ECP had submitted the report on the voter lists in Karachi. The ECP Sindh informed the court that 32,231 voters could not be verified. The lawyer for JI Rasheed A Rizvi said there was a house with 653 registered voters in the city.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Karachi Amir Muhammad Hussain Mehnati has hailed the verdict of the Supreme Court on voter lists and termed it a historical victory of people.

Addressing a press conference at the Idara Noor-e-Haq here on Wednesday, he said that the historical decision had foiled the nefarious conspiracies of ‘Thapa mafia’. He said that the door-to-door attestation of voter lists with the help of Frontier Constabulary and army was the need of the hour. He said judiciary had once again represented the aspirations of masses.

Mehnati said that one million votes of Karachiites were moved in other provinces under a designed conspiracy to temper general elections. He further said that election process had been captured for last quarter century.

He appealed judiciary to establish monitoring teams for general election so as to ensure a peaceful and crystal clear polling process in the metropolis. He was of the view that durable peace in Karachi was impossible without transparent general elections. asad farooq/nni

Home | Karachi