Supreme Court Wednesday nearly ended the Form 45 and Form 47 controversy from 2024 general elections by holding that the ballot papers cast are the primary evidence of an election result.
"The ballot papers that are cast are the determinative factor", held Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa in a four-page written order regarding disputed electoral results of a provincial constituency PB-14 Naseerabad-II Balochistan.
"What is recorded by a Presiding Officer or a Returning Officer in the requisite forms is not the final determination of the vote count. If the votes are ordered to be recounted, which is done by opening the bags/packets containing the ballot papers," observed Chief Justice Isa.
"The ballot papers, which are cast, is the primary evidence of the election result," he held.
"To the said forms attaches a presumption of correctness until the ballot papers are ordered to be recounted."
This was decided by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Isa and comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan, as it heard an appeal which assailed the Balochistan Election Tribunal judgment of August 2. In the appeal, appellant Gulam Rasool challenged the results of elections held in the Balochistan constituency of PB-14 Naseerabad-II. As many as 26 candidates had contested polls from the constituency on February 8, 2024. Muhammad Khan Lehri of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was declared the winner after the ECP said he received 21,103 votes. Rasool, who hails from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), was declared the runner up after he was said to have received 19,093 votes. The candidate who stood third in the constituency received only 347 votes. The contest, therefore, was between Ghulam Rasool and Muhammad Khan Lehri.
"If at all the appellant may have obtained an advantage because he would get an opportunity to cross-examine the said Presiding Officers," the court held, adding, "The Presiding Officers testified as court witnesses and the parties were given an opportunity to cross-examine them."
"Despite cross-examining them at length, the alleged wrongdoing on their part could not be established nor could it be established that the copies of Form-45s produced by the appellant were copies of the actual Form-45s."
The court noted that the appellant's (Gulam Rasool) allegation that the Lehri had
familial and other ties with the Presiding Officers, could not be established
"These allegations were specifically denied by the respondent No. 11 (Lehri). There were 96 polling stations in the said constituency."
The court said that a candidate may request to recount the votes, and if such a request is allowed, the votes are recounted after the issuance of notice to all the candidates, and recounting takes place in the presence of all those who elect to attend.
"If there is a dispute in this regard, the actual votes which were cast determine the controversy."
The court added: "However, needless to state, if the seal of the bags/packets are found to be broken or tampered with the sanctity of votes therein stands compromised."
But the court said this was not found in the appellant's case.
"In the instant case, the appellant had questioned the declared results and had sought recounting, which was allowed," the court said, adding, "Pursuant to the recounting, the votes received by the winning candidate (respondent No. 11) were reduced and so too those received by the appellant, however, the respondent No. 11 still emerged as the victorious candidate having received 1,919 more votes than the appellant."
The written order said that the judge of the election tribunal independently examined the case from all angles and reviewed the allegations before correctly concluding that the allegations were not established, and that the election results were fair.
The top court subsequently dismissed the appeal of PPP's Ghulam Rasool.
It is pertinent to mention here that a controversy over the results of the February 8, 2024, elections erupted after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates claimed that figures contained on form 45s issued to candidates by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from each polling station contained a different tally from the consolidated results of the constituency prepared by the returning officer and recorded in form 47, wherein their opponents were granted victory.