Gilgit-Baltistan court dismisses IPP candidate’s appeal — Dawn
In Gilgit, Pakistan, the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court dismissed an appeal by Imam Malik, a candidate of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP), against an election tribunal’s decision. The tribunal suspended Malik’s membership and declared Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Attaullah Shah elected in the GBA-16 Diamer-II constituency.
Case returned to election tribunal
The appellate court also directed the election tribunal to consider the objections of both sides and issue a decision. As Dawn reports, Malik challenged the order issued by election tribunal judge Mushtaq Muhammad following Attaullah Shah’s petition regarding the general election results in the constituency.
Shah claimed that the returning officer issued the final Form-49 without counting postal ballots. The chief election commissioner of Gilgit-Baltistan subsequently declared independent candidate Malik the winner; he later joined the IPP.
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A margin of 13 votes
On September 11, the election tribunal suspended Malik’s membership and instructed the returning officer to complete the count of postal ballots. After their scrutiny and counting on September 13, the Gilgit-Baltistan Election Commission released the final Form-49: Shah received 6,618 votes and led Malik by 13 votes.
On September 14, Supreme Appellate Court judge Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan suspended the election tribunal’s decision after admitting Malik’s appeal for hearing. Following hearings involving both sides, Chief Justice Khan reserved the decision and announced the verdict on September 19. According to Shah’s lawyer, Islamuddin, the court ultimately delivered justice.
