The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday set aside the disciplinary proceedings initiated by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) against the then district police officer (DPO), deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner and others over alleged irregularities in the Daska by-election held on National Assembly NA-75, Sialkot-IV.
LHC’s Justice Shujaat Ali Khan issuing a detailed judgment observed that “I have no hesitation to hold that upon declaration of the fate of the election in the constituency, the petitioners no more remained election officials, hence, the Commission has no jurisdiction to initiate proceedings against them. Resultantly, all these writ petitions are accepted”.
It is worth mentioning that upon the death of MNA Syed Iftikharul Hassan Shah from NA-75, Sialkot-IV by-polls for the constituency were scheduled for February 19, 2021. After completion of the polling process, out of 360 polling stations, the results of 340 polling stations were received on form-45, at around 02:53 am, on February 20, 2021, and that of the remaining 20 polling stations was not received within the prescribed time.
