MUHAMMAD SADIQ Versus RANA SHAUKAT ALI

Petitioner, Muhammad Sadiq has been elected as a member of a Union Council during the recent elections to the local bodies. Respondents Nos.l to 4, Rana Shaukat Ali and others, had contested the election with the petitioner but without success. Feeling aggrieved by the election of the petitioner, respondent No.1 tiled an election petition in which a stay order was issued by the Election Tribunal restraining the petitioner from performing his duties as a member of the Union Council during the pendency of the election petition. Order of the Election Tribunal in this regard has been challenged by the petitioner in the instant Constitutional petition.

2. There is a plethora of case‑law on the subject that an elected person cannot be restrained from performing his functions till his election is set aside because if he is restrained from so functioning the constituency represented by him would stand disfranchised. Sheikh Abdul Hameed v. Punjab Local Councils Election Authority and 3 others (1984 CLC 993 (Lahore) and Abdul Wahid and another v. Din Muhammad and others (PLD 1982 Lahore 168) are some of the authorities in point. The said case‑law was not taken into consideration by the learned Election Tribunal before issuing the stay order. In view of the case‑law referred to above, the learned Election Tribunal was not competent to grant the stay order assailed herein. It is, therefore, without lawful authority and of no legal effect.

3. 1n this view of the matter, the petition in hand is accepted and the stay order granted by the learned Election Tribunal is set aside. As the respondents have not turned up to contest the petition, I make no order as to costs.

A.A./M‑290/L Petition accepted.