ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has refused to grant leave to appeal in an election dispute relating to Provincial Assembly constituency PB-21 Hub, thereby upholding the Balochistan High Court’s decision and effectively endorsing the recount ordered by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
The case was heard by a bench headed by Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, with Justice Ali Baqar Najafi authoring the judgment. The petition was filed by Muhammad Saleh Bhotani, who had initially been declared the returned candidate in the February 8, 2024 general elections.
According to the record, provisional results issued through Form-47 showed Bhotani securing 30,910 votes, significantly ahead of runner-up Rajab Ali Rind and third-placed candidate Ali Hassan Zehri. However, Zehri later sought recounting, alleging irregularities, including expulsion of his polling agents from several polling stations, alleged ballot tampering, and law-and-order concerns in parts of the constituency.
The returning officer initially noted the wide margin between candidates but sought guidance from the ECP in view of the evolving security situation and complaints raised by contesting candidates. Acting under its constitutional mandate and relevant provisions of the Elections Act, 2017, the ECP ordered recounting in selected polling stations. The recount process witnessed security incidents, including reports of violence and arrests linked to alleged election material tampering, which temporarily halted proceedings.
Subsequently, through a series of review proceedings, a five-member bench of the ECP restored its earlier recount order and directed completion of the recount, including rejected ballots. After recounting, revised results reflected Ali Hassan Zehri as the returned candidate with 23,974 votes, while Bhotani was placed third.
Bhotani challenged the recount and subsequent results before the Balochistan High Court which dismissed his petition. He later approached the Federal Constitutional Court seeking leave to appeal. After examining the record and arguments, the Federal Constitutional Court found no grounds warranting interference with the high court’s decision or the ECP’s exercise of constitutional authority to ensure fair and transparent elections. Consequently, the petition was dismissed.
The ruling reinforces the ECP’s constitutional mandate to ensure elections are conducted honestly, justly, and fairly, while limiting judicial interference in electoral administrative processes unless clear illegality is established.
Meanwhile, the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has dismissed a petition seeking enforcement of land mutations after a delay of more than a century, holding that revenue authorities lack the power to correct land records in cases involving extraordinary and unexplained delay or disputed ownership claims, which fall exclusively within the jurisdiction of civil courts.
According to the detailed judgment approved for reporting, a two-member bench comprising Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Muhammad Karim Khan Agha dismissed the petition filed by Faizullah Khan and others, thereby upholding the earlier decision of the Lahore High Court’s Multan Bench.
The petitioners had claimed ownership of the disputed land on the basis of mutations sanctioned in 1907 and 1913, which they said were approved pursuant to a decision of a competent civil court. They argued that due to negligence on the part of revenue authorities, the mutations were never implemented in the official record of rights and that no legal impediment now existed to their enforcement.
In its detailed judgment, the FCC observed that mutations remaining unenforced for over one hundred years could not be treated as clerical or arithmetical errors, particularly where multiple transactions, transfers of ownership, and third-party rights may have arisen over such an extended period. The court noted that deciding such matters without hearing all affected parties would violate the principles of natural justice.
