LAHORE – Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday has announced the verdict inthe petition filed by Khawaja Saad Rafique against Imran Khan in NA 131.
LHC has ordered to recount votes in NA-131 Lahore constituency wherePakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan defeated Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique on July 25 generalelection.
Announcing reserved verdict on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaderSaad Rafique’s plea, the LHC judge Justice Mamoonur Rasheed barred theElection Commission of Pakistan (ECP) from issuing notification of PTIchairman Imran Khan’s success NA-131 Lahore constituency.
The LHC had reserved verdict on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaderSaad Rafique’s plea to recount votes in NA-131 Lahore constituency.
On the other hand, former Railways Minister and Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Saad Rafique took a jibe at PM-in-waitingImran Khan over his ‘dual behavior’ pertaining to recount in constituencies.
Talking to media in Lahore, he said: “Imran Khan favors reopening ofconstituencies in public but his legal team does the opposite in thecourts”, regretted Saad Rafique.
Rafique told media persons that he wanted Imran Khan to retain NA-131 seat.“If Imran Khan swears in as country’s premier, he would be de-seat by theelection tribunal”, predicted Rafique.
Calling for reopening all constituencies of Pakistan for recounting,Rafique equated General Elections 2018 with ‘selection’.
Previously, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) upheld victory ofPakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan in NA-31 recount.
Votes of Khajawa Saad soared by just 125 in recount whereas those of Khanaugmented by just 50, thus resulting in victory of the PTI chairman.