ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa raised a question about the definition and legal term used for ‘Form-47’ during a hearing on an election dispute involving Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader Azhar Qayyum Nahra in NA constituency -81.
At the start of the hearing, Ahsan Bhoon, counsel for Nara, argued that his client had been declared successful after the recount and approached the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to challenge the decision of the administrative officer.
On April 4, Justice Shahid Karim of the LHC stayed the notification declaring PML-N leader Azhar Qayyum the winner from NA-81 constituency, Gujranwala.
The decision came during a hearing on a petition filed by Bilal Ijaz Chaudhry of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), who expressed concern over the election results.
Today at the hearing, Advocate Bhoon informed the court that the Returning Officer had issued Form 47 on February 9.
To which the CJP asked, “What is Form 47 and what is the term used for it in the laws?”
“Form 47 is a provisional result and the final result is issued on form 48. Legally, form 47 is called provisional result,” replied advocate Bhoon.
He added that the returning officer had issued Form-48 for the constituency on February 11.
Form 48 is crucial in the preparation of election results as it includes the total number of votes cast for each candidate in a particular constituency.
“Can the Election Commission declare someone the winner and then change its decision? Indeed, the Returning Officer should have done a recount based on your request,” Justice Aqeel Abbasi observed.
On April 26, the ECP renewed the victory notification of PTI’s Chaudhry Bilal Ejaz as MNA from NA-81, Gujranwala.
Bilal Ejaz won the general election by a clear margin of 8,000 votes but lost in a controversial recount.
The ECP issued the victory notification based on the orders issued by the LHC.
On April 4, the LHC canceled the victory announcement of PML-N leader Azhar Qayyum Nahr from NA-81 and reinstated Bilal Ejaz as Member of National Assembly (MNA).
The petitioner challenged the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declaring Azhar Qayyum the successful candidate from NA-81.
Bilal Ejaz said he was initially declared the winner by a margin of 8,000 votes, but the ECP recount illegally favored Azhar Qayyum.
He claimed that the returning officer reduced his vote count by 2,500 during the recount.
Bilal Ejaz argued that the ECP had no power to order a recount after the formation of the election tribunal and asked the court to nullify the announcement of Azhar Qayyum’s victory.
According to the initial results, Bilal Ejaz was declared the winner with 117,717 votes, while the PML-N candidate, Azhar Qayyum, came second with 109,926 votes.
