2014 C L C 1381
[Balochistan]
Before Qazi Faez Isa, C.J. and Muhammad Kamran Khan Mulakhail, J
HAIDER ALI KHAN JAMALI----Petitioner
Versus
RETURNING OFFICER/ ADC JAFFARABAD and 2 others----Respondents
Constitutional Petition No.S-111 of 2003, decided on 20th December, 2013.
Electoral Rolls Act (XXI of 1974)---
----S. 20---Balochistan Local Government Act (V of 2010), Ss.23 & 24---Constitution of
Pakistan, Art.199---Constitutional petition---Corr ection of electoral rolls---Bar to such
correction---Scope---Electoral rolls should not be rendered invalid by reason of any erroneous
description therein of any person listed or of an omission of the name of any person entitled or of
inclusion of the name of a pers on not so entitled-- -Electoral rolls prepared before general
election could be used in the forthcoming local bodies election---Sufficient time was provided to
the applicant to seek correction of electoral rolls prior to the anno uncement of election---
Electoral rolls could not be correct ed at such belated st age in view of the ba r contained in S.20 of
Electoral Rolls Act, 1974 as election schedul e had been announced---Constitutional petition was
dismissed in limine.
Nadir Ali Chalgari for Petitioner.
Haroon Kasi, Law Officer, Pr ovincial Election Commissi oner and Shai Haq Baloch,
Asstt. A.-G. for Respondents.
Date of hearing: 22nd November, 2013.
ORDER
MUHAMMAD KAMRAN KHAN MULAKHAIL, J. --- The nomination papers of the
petitioner were accepted by the Returning Office r (respondent No.1) and said acceptance order
was assailed by the respondent No.2 in Appeal No.12 of 2013 before th e Appellate Authority
District Judge, Dera Allahyar, who vide order, dated 18-11-2013, ac cepted the appeal and
rejected the nomination papers of petitioner. The petitioner th rough instant petition has sought
direction to respondents for including his name in the list of validly nominated candidates of
Ward No.2 of Municipal Co mmittee, Usta Muhammad.
2. The learned counsel for the peti tioner contended that the petiti oner is enrolled as voter in
electoral roll of Union Counc il Aliabad of District Council Jaffarabad and submitted the
nomination papers from two constituencies, one, where his name exists and another for Ward
No.2 of Municipal Committee, Usta Muhammad. Ho wever, on verbal assurance of the Returning
Officer/ADC, Jaffarabad (respondent No.1) he withdrew from Union Council Ali Abad,
therefore, he may be allowed to contest the election from Ward No.2 of Municipal Committee,
Usta Muhammad.
3. The perusal of record with the memo of petition further reveals that the name of the
petitioner is in Ward No.7 of Municipal Committee Usta Muha mmad where, he had also
submitted the nomination papers, which too, wa s withdrawn and nomination papers of the
petitioner were accepted for Ward No.2.
4. To better understand the cont roversy it would be advantag eous to reproduce relevant
provisions of sections 23 and 24 of Balochis tan Local Government Act, 2010 ("the Act") as
under:---
"23. Electoral Rolls:
(2) The Electoral Roll the local council shall be prepared by the Election Commission in the
manner it may deem appropriate or adopt the el ectoral rolls prepared for the elections of
Provincial Assembly and the electoral rolls sh all not be invalid by r eason of any erroneous
description therein of any person li sted or of an omission of any pe rson entitled to be enrolled or
the inclusion of name of any person not so entitled.
(3) Every person, whose name is entered in the electoral roll, and no person, whose name is
not so entered shall be entitled to cast a vot e at an election to the local council---
"24. Qualification for candida tes and elected members.
(1) A person shall qualify to be elected or to hold an elective office or membership of local
council if, he
(c) is enrolled as a voter in the electoral of the relevant ward:"
Therefore the Election Commissi on of Pakistan and the Provi ncial Election Commissioner are
the sole authorities to achieve the object of the Act in resp ect of election of local bodies.
5. The matter of inclusion or exclusion of any na me in the electoral ro ll is governed by the
Electoral Rolls Act, 1974 ("the Electoral Rolls Act"). The election schedule for the coming local bodies elections was announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan on 31-10-2013; hence
section 20 of the Electoral Rolls Act (reproduced here under) is applicable.
"20. No correction to be made afte r constituency called upon to elect.
No revision or correction of a ny electoral roll for an electora l area shall be made nor shall
any order under section 19 be made in respec t of any electoral roll at any time after the
constituency of which such electoral area fo rms part has been called upon to elect its
representative and before such representative has been elected."
6. A comparison of the referred to sections of the said two enactments suggests that the
legislatures in their wisdom included and validated the electoral rolls prepared for the election of Provincial Assembly which shall not be rendered invalid by reason of any erroneous description
therein of any person listed or of an omission of the name of any person en titled or of inclusion
of the name of a person not so entitled. The elec toral rolls prepared before the general elections
held on 11th May, 2013 can be used in the forthc oming local bodies electi ons and prior to the
announcement of the election schedule dated 31st October, 2013, sufficient time was provided to
seek correction of the electoral ro ll. At this belated juncture the electoral roll cannot be corrected
in view of the bar contained in section 20 of the Electoral Rolls Act. Moreover the election
schedule has also been announced.
7. The petitioner intends to contest the election but he had not checked as to whether his
name was incorporated in the el ectoral roll, despite having a fair and reasonable opportunity
spreading over a period of more than five months i.e. from 12th May, 2013 to 30th October,
2013. It is suffice to observe that respondent No.1 has acted in utte r violation of a pplicable law,
when all three nomination papers filed from thr ee different constituencies have been accepted,
although, the petitioner subsequently withdrew from two constituencies. He now wants to contest
an election from the constituency of his own choi ce. The provisions of section 20 of the Electoral
Rolls Act, 1974 and section 24(1)(c) of the Baloch istan Local Government Act, 2010 are a bar in
doing the same.
These are the reasons for our short or der dated 22-11-2013. whereby petition was
dismissed in limine.
AG/33/Bal. Petition dismissed.This judgment is reproduced from a publicly available source for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. If you believe this listing contains an error,
let us know.