AJK Election Commission rejects two pleas against Rathore’s LA-17 victory

Muzaffarabad: On Saturday, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Election Commission, with a 2-1 majority, denied two petitions challenging Prime Minister Raja Faisal Mumtaz Rathore's victory in LA-17 (Haveli). Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal and Senior Member Muhammad Ahsen rejected the petitions by PML-N candidate Chaudhry Mohsin Aziz and independent candidate Khawaja Tariq Saeed, arguing that the disputes required resolution through an election petition before an Election Tribunal.

Member Syed Nazeerul Hassan Gillani disagreed in both cases and instructed the returning officer (RO) to recompile results from disputed polling stations using Forms-24 submitted by presiding officers (POs) to polling agents. The majority's decision prevailed, keeping Rathore's election notification intact. On Friday, the commission declared Rathore as the returned candidate from LA-17 and Sajid Iqbal Abbasi from LA-14.

PML-N's Aziz claimed discrepancies between the RO's results and Forms-24 supplied to his agents at 21 polling stations, alleging 1,133 votes deducted from his tally and 3,095 added to Rathore's through forged statements of count. He also argued polling had not occurred at stations 168 and 173. The RO refuted these claims, stating polling continued uninterrupted and no PO complaints were filed.

The majority upheld Section 66(5) of the Elections Act, which permits a recount only when a PO's count is challenged in writing and the RO finds the challenge reasonable or if directed by the commission. They rejected Aziz's allegations as not falling under this section and stated the disputes could be addressed through a regular election petition under Section 81 after evidence recording.

Gillani dissented, noting the POs' signatures on Forms-24 were similar, and the alleged forgery was "substantiated by the record." He ruled in favor of Aziz and directed the RO to recompile results for 10 polling stations and any others with clear contradictions between Forms-24 and RO records. The second petition, filed by Saeed, raised similar allegations of vote reduction and alleged fraudulent Forms-24, but the commission dismissed it, stating the jurisdiction for resolving factual questions lies with the Election Tribunal. Gillani again dissented, asserting sufficient proof existed to support the disputed results.