PP-7 Rawalpindi by poll: LHC stops RO from notifying results

RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench on Wednesday stopped Returning Officer (RO) from notifying the results pertaining to the unofficially declared winner of PP-7 Rawalpindi by poll held on July 17, ARY News reported.

The restraining order was passed on a petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Col (retd) Shabbir Awan.

The LHC bench has further directed the PTI candidate to approach Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for a vote recount request.

It is pertinent to mention here that PML-N candidate Raja Sagheer Ahmed emerged victorious from the constituency by a thin margin of 49 votes in the Punjab by-polls held on July 17.

Following the narrow margin of defeat, the PTI candidate challenged the results and filed an application for a recount of votes in the constituency which was rejected by Returning Officer (RO) of the constituency.

Mr Awan in his application maintained that the winning candidate received 68,906 votes while he secured 68,857 with a difference of just 49 votes.