Shah Wali v. Quetta Chamber of Commerce & Industry,
CLD 2012 802 · Balochistan High Court
This case is about a dispute over elections at the Quetta Chamber of Commerce and Industry. A group of members (the appellants) challenged decisions made in September and December 2009 by the relevant authority under the Trade Organizations Ordinance, 2009. They alleged that the chamber's election process was flawed due to forged voter lists, false ID and tax numbers, improper membership decisions, and that sitting office-bearers had not completed their required two-year term, making the elections illegal.
The appellants first went to the Director-General of Trade Organizations, who is the final authority on election-related matters before an election is held. When that route failed to give them full relief, they appealed further, but this additional appeal was rejected as not allowed under the law, since the Ordinance clearly states no further appeal lies from the Director-General's decision on such pre-election matters.
The High Court also examined whether the appellants' appeal to it was filed too late. Although there was a 28-day delay beyond the 30-day limit, the court excused the delay because there was no clear proof of exactly when the order had been officially served on the appellants, making it unfair to strictly enforce the deadline.
However, on the core issue, the court ruled that the lower authority was correct to dismiss the appeal as not maintainable, since the law does not allow a further appeal in this type of election dispute. The appeal was therefore dismissed, reinforcing that decisions by the Director-General in pre-election matters are final and cannot be challenged further under this Ordinance.
یہ مقدمہ کوئٹہ چیمبر آف کامرس اینڈ انڈسٹری کے انتخابات سے متعلق ایک تنازع کا ہے۔ ارکان کے ایک گروہ (اپیل کنندگان) نے ٹریڈ آرگنائزیشنز آرڈیننس 2009 کے تحت متعلقہ اتھارٹی کی جانب سے ستمبر اور دسمبر 2009 میں کیے گئے فیصلوں کو چیلنج کیا۔ ان کا الزام تھا کہ چیمبر کا انتخابی عمل جعلی ووٹر لسٹوں، جھوٹے شناختی اور ٹیکس نمبروں، ارکانیت کے غیر مناسب فیصلوں کی بنا پر ناقص تھا، اور یہ کہ موجودہ عہدیداروں نے اپنی مطلوبہ دو سالہ مدت پوری نہیں کی تھی، جس کی وجہ سے انتخابات غیر قانونی قرار پاتے تھے۔
اپیل کنندگان سب سے پہلے ڈائریکٹر جنرل ٹریڈ آرگنائزیشنز کے پاس گئے، جو انتخابات ہونے سے قبل انتخابی معاملات پر حتمی اتھارٹی ہیں۔ جب اس راستے سے انہیں مکمل ریلیف نہ ملا تو انہوں نے مزید اپیل دائر کی، مگر یہ اضافی اپیل قانوناً ناقابلِ سماعت قرار دے کر مسترد کر دی گئی، کیونکہ آرڈیننس واضح طور