Evidence Exists Against Talal Chaudhry but Only Warning Issued Due to Influence: Election Commission Officials

Islamabad:The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday heard cases of alleged violations of the code of conduct against Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry and NA-96 Faisalabad MNA Bilal Badr. The hearing was conducted by a three-member bench headed by the Chief Election Commissioner.
During the proceedings, Talal Chaudhry’s counsel argued that his client had already tendered an unconditional apology. He informed the commission that on November 20, the District Monitoring Officer (DMO) had issued a warning to Talal Chaudhry and imposed a fine of Rs50,000, cautioning him against future violations of the code of conduct.
The lawyer maintained that the DMO did not act in accordance with the law and insisted that Talal Chaudhry had not violated the election code of conduct.
Chief Election Commissioner remarked, “Do you mean to say that a minister can do whatever he wants and no one can question him?”
Election Commission officials stated that the ECP has full authority to take action in cases of code of conduct violations. They added that video evidence exists against Talal Chaudhry, but the DMO issued only a warning due to the minister’s influence.
However, the Sindh member of the commission observed that it is not possible to conclusively prove that influence was used. The Election Commission subsequently reserved its decision in the case.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission also heard a case against former minister Abid Sher Ali regarding violation of ballot secrecy during the Faisalabad by-election. Abid Sher Ali appeared before the commission, while his counsel stated that he was seeking unconditional forgiveness for the violation and clarified that his client did not upload the video on social media himself.
Abid Sher Ali submitted a written unconditional apology to the Election Commission. The commission reserved its decision, with the Chief Election Commissioner remarking that it would be decided whether the apology should be accepted or not.
In a separate hearing, the Election Commission took up a disqualification reference against NA-4 Swat independent MNA Sohail Sultan. Sohail Sultan requested two weeks’ time to appoint a lawyer, stating that he needed time for legal representation.
The Chief Election Commissioner noted that the matter had already been delayed significantly due to a stay order issued by the High Court and emphasized that the commission was required to decide the reference within the stipulated time.
The Election Commission granted Sohail Sultan one day to engage a lawyer and adjourned the hearing until tomorrow.