Law: Elections Act, 2017

Section: XXXIII,137,144,144(b),144(2c),145,145(1)

Law: Civil Procedure Code (V of 1908)

Section: VI,15

(a)    Elections Act (XXXII of 2017)-------Ss.144 & 145---Civil Procedure Code (V of 1908), O.VI, R. 15---Eelection petition, verification of---Affidavit---Procedural compliance mandatory---The petitioner challenged election of returned candidate from NA-111 Nankana Sahib-I--Petition was neither signed by the petitioner nor properly verified in accordance with law---Affidavit bore inconsistent dates and lacked proper identification of the petitioner---Particulars of counsel---The verification failed to distinguish between facts based on personal knowledge and belief---Even a short affidavit is sufficient if it duly fulfills the requirement of O. VI, R. 15, C.P.C.---It is settled law that when the election petitioner is not personally known to the oath commissioner, he can be identified by an advocate, who is then required to state that election petitioner is personally known to him but when the name of the advocate identifying the deponent is not mentioned on the verification, the same is not valid ---Perusal of verification on the affidavit reflected that the election petitioner declared that he verified his affidavit without specifying which paragraphs he is verifying from his personal knowledge and which paragraphs were correct to his belief---There was a stamp of oath commissioner which reflected a different date of oath---When identification was to be made by an advocate, his name and particulars were required to be mentioned---When the affidavit fulfills requirement of O. VI, R. 15 of the C.P.C. then even a short affidavit is sufficient---Election petition should be properly verified by the petitioner, specifying which facts are based on personal knowledge and which are based on belief---The Tribunal found that the petitioner's affidavit lacked proper verification, with inconsistencies in dates and missing signatures---Tribunal under S. 145(1) of the Elections Act, 2017, dismissed the petition, citing multiple procedural violations.Sardarzada Zafar Abbas and others v. Syed Hassan Murtaza and others PLD 2005 SC 600; Khawaja Muhammad Asif v. Muhammad Usman Dar 2018 SCMR 2128; Shamona Badshah Qaisarani v. Election Tribunal, Multan and…