SARFRAZ KHAN and another vs THE RETURNING OFFICER and anothers

ORDER

' SH. RIAZ AHMED, J.---Leave to appeal is sought against the order, dated 19th of December, 2000 whereby a learned Single Judge, of the Lahore High Court dismissed the writ petition of the petitioner in limine calling in question the rejection of his nomination paper for contesting election to the office of Naib Nazim.

2. Petitioner had filed his nomination papers and an objection was raised that he was not a Matriculate. The Returning Officer summoned the relevant record from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Board of Sargodha and found the name of the petitioner and his parentage on the certificate issued by the Board but the photograph on the forms was that of a different person. The Returning Officer also put a few questions to the petitioner to which he sated that he had taken his examination in Science subjects whereas record revealed that he appeared in Arts subjects. On the basis of this material, the Returning Officer concluded that in fact some body had impersonated the petitioner to take the examination and thus the Returning Officer held the petitioner to be a non-Matriculate and rejected his nomination papers. An appeal was taken against the aforesaid order and the appellate authority also upheld the order of the Returning Officer, and thus the Constitutional jurisdiction of the Lahore High Court was invoked but the writ petition was dismissed in terms of order impugned.

3. Mr. M. Mohy-ud-Din Qazi, Advocate Supreme Court argues that the certificate issued in favour of the petitioner was genuine and it was only the Board who could cancel the certificate. Further states that in fact somebody had misplaced the photograph of the petitioner.

4. The arguments raised by the learned counsel are essentially the questions of fact and the same could not have gone into in exercise of the Constitutional jurisdiction. In this view of the matter, even this Court cannot help the petitioner. Accordingly, we find no substance in this petition and dismiss the same accordingly. Leave to appeal is refused.