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Pakistan Supreme Court stays by-poll in Lodhran

Islamabad - Tareen says PML-N is trying to hide behind Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended the August 26 decision of an election tribunal to unseat Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Mohammed Siddique Khan Baloch and the tribunal's order of holding re-election in the NA-154 (Lodhran-I) constituency.
The PML-N lawmaker who contested the 2013 poll as an independent candidate and later joined the ruling party, was unseated when the tribunal set aside his election on a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf's central leader Jehangir Khan Tareen.
On Tuesday, a three-member bench headed by Justice Saqib Nisar took up a petition filed by Baloch in which he had asked the court to issue a stay order against the by-elections in NA-154 which were scheduled for October 11.
Besides pointing out massive irregularities in the election, Multan tribunal judge Zahid Mehmood had disqualified Baloch for possessing bogus educational certificate for 10 years.
Makhdoom Ali Khan, the counsel for PTI's Jehangir Tareen, during the hearing requested the court not to issue a stay order against the upcoming by-polls, asking for extra time to prepare for the hearing on appeal challenging the tribunal decision regarding NA-154.
Tareen's lawyer further said that the apex court's decision on the appeal challenging the tribunal decision should be issued after the by-elections.
In response, Justice Nisar maintained that hundreds of thousands of rupees are spent on elections, hence if the decision on the appeal was issued after the by-polls, it could result in a big loss to the national kitty. The court had no choice but to suspend the tribunal's decision if Tareen's lawyer could not give arguments, Justice Nisar said.
After hearing all arguments, the court issued a stay order against implementation of election tribunal's decision regarding NA-154 and subsequently reinstated Baloch as a lawmaker.
Hearing of the case was adjourned indefinitely.
Speaking to media after the hearing, PTI leader Jehangir Tareen said that the PML-N has attempted to hide behind the Supreme Court when it anticipated a defeat.
He said: "I don't offer any comment on the SC decision. But I regret that such a decision came just 11 days before the by-polls. The PML-N has been eliminated from Lodhran. If they did not dare contest then they should have sought stay order earlier. The PML-N, on coming to know that it will not be allowed to commit rigging in by polls, it fled. I will face the PML-N to the end for the sake of justice and truth and I will prove that PML-N had stolen public mandate during general election 2013 and had committed record rigging."
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