1. MUHAMMAD KARIM KHAN AGHA, J.---Pursuant to the order dated 25.06.2018 Mosa Kamlo, Director, Agriculture; Supply and Prices Department, Government of Sindh has appeared and confirmed that the entries of default as referred to in the said order are correct.
2. Learned counsel for Respondent No.1 Mir Saijad Ali Talpur and his wife have submitted that wife of Respondent No.1 is not a defaulter and that all the material brought on record has been managed by the appellant, who is a rival of Mir Sajjad Ali Talpur. Learned counsel states that neither he nor his wife are defaulters and also contends that there are material contradictions in the documents on which the appellant relied upon; that the information on record requires further inquiry which is beyond the scope of this tribunal; that Mir Sajjad Ali Talpur is unaware that he owes any amount; that the Agriculture Department is not a Financial Institution. He has also placed reliance on 2003 YLR 749, 1994 SCMR 1499, PLD 2017 SC 70 and an unreported order dated 22.10.2015.
3. Learned counsel for the E.C.P. supports the arguments of the appellant and particularly referred section 63 (4) of Elections Act, 2017, which shows that respondent is a defaulter of government dues and therefore his nomination papers should have been rejected.
4. I have heard the parties, scanned the record and considered the relevant law.
5. Since the Representatives of Agriculture, Supply and Price Department, Government of Sindh, present in Court have verified the amount of default of both the Respondent No.1 Mir Sajjad Ali Talpur and his wife, Mst. Tanveer Talpur there can be no doubt that they are defaulters. In my view the amount in question is not a loan from the A bank but are government dues which are liable to be paid by Mir Sajjad Ali Talpur and his wife Mst. Tanveer Talpur and falls within the ambit of section 63(4) Elections Act, 2017; none of this information was disclosed in their nomination papers or affidavits.
6. I have examined the impugned order whereby the nomination papers of Mir Sajjad Ali Talpur were allowed, it is specifically stated in Page-19 of the order which reads as under:- "It is admitted position that neither of the government officials has appeared and raised objection in this regard. It is also admitted position that the copy of list so produced by learned advocate for objector does not contain the signature, stamp and seal of the officer/authority concerned. While on the other hand learned advocate for candidate has denied such liability, in the name of wife of the candidate. In the circumstances I am of the humble opinion that this objection, too, is not sustainable. Accordingly nomination form of Mir Sajjad Ali Talpur to contest election form NA 228 Tando Muhammad Khan is hereby accepted."
7. This order now becomes distinguishable because I have heard from the concerned department officials which the Returning Officer did not have the benefit of hearing from and they have categorically and specifically by producing the relevant record shown that Mir Sajjad Ali Talpur and his wife are defaulter to Agriculture, Supply and Price Department, Government of Sindh and these are government dues.
8. In the face of these documents and submission made by the Representative of Agriculture, Supply and Price Department, Government of Sindh formerly known as SASO, Respondent No.1 Mir Sajjad Ali Talpur in my view has not been able to specifically rebut the same despite having been given ample opportunity.
9. There was not just one amount but 02 amounts on which Mir Sajjad Ali Talpur and his wife had been defaulters and I am of the view that they could not have been unaware of these amounts but rather that the Agriculture, Supply and Price Department, Government of Sindh changed its nomenclature and they deliberately decided not to pay these amounts and hoped that they were swept under the carpet and forgotten. Based on the discussion above I do not find the explanation provided by Mir Sajjad Ali Talpur and his wife tenable as was held in the case of Malik Shakeel Awan v. Shaikh Rasheed dated 20.03.2018 by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan.
10. Under these circumstances, appeal is allowed and the nomination papers of Mir Sajjad Ali Talpur stand rejected in respect of PS-68 and Muhammad Khan.