Categories Courts

PCATP voters urged for re-election of the body

 Elections of apex body of architects in Pakistan are in question as contesting candidates have alleged the election process has been compromised through cyber-attack for favorable results a day ago.

Thousands of voters’ representatives have urged the convenor of the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP) to declare the election null and void amid announcing re-election in a transparent manner.

The PCATP established in 1983, is a federal regulatory authority for architects and town planners based in Pakistan. Filing a petition before the Convenor of Election Committee of the PCATP in Islamabad on Wednesday as many as eight contesting candidates raised objections in the election process.

The petitioners include Jehangir Khan Sherpao, Azhar Mamoon Sualehi, Ahmad Mukhtar, Husnain Raza Khan, Mansoor Ahmad, Farman Ullah, Fahad Nizamani and Mahjabeen Bugti.

They alleged that the elections have been stolen through hacking orchestrated by incumbent Chairperson M. Arif Changezi.

In their objection petition, the objectors have relied upon an official email which was sent by Oathsystems (Pvt.) Limited, the IT company entrusted with carrying out online elections, to the Registar, PCATP at 2:04pm on March 7, 2023.

In this panicked email, the IT company plainly admitted that some party orchestrated an hacking attack on the online voting system, and succeeded in manipulating the results. The IT company’s email states:  “we witnessed an attack on our voting system at around 02:00am on 7th March, 2023. As a result of this attack, our voting result was manipulated…. During our rectification process, the voting system was unavailable to the members for around 3 hrs… Despite the fact that we carefully corrected every piece of data… we cannot certify the result.”

After receiving this email, two members of PCATP Election Committee expressly rejected the election results. A third member, Arch. Yusuf Awan, who was also the Committee’s Convenor, wrote that “report of Conusltant IT be attached and shared with contestants and uploaded on the website”.

Only 2 out of 5 members of the Election Committee approved the results. However, relying upon this minority opinion of the Election Committee, the incumbent Chairman Mr. Changezi proceeded to issue a notification declaring himself as the winner of the elections.

Talking to TLTP, the leading objector, Arch. Jehangir Khan Sherpao said: “If the IT company which conducted the elections is stating in black and white that “they cannot verify the results”, how can anyone trust these results? 

Thousands of architects and town planners from all over the country voted for me and my panel; however, their votes have been brazenly stolen – through hacking (cybercrime), whose beneficiary sadly appears to be the incumbent Chairman and his team.

It is most shameful for this to happen in the elections conducted in a noble profession such as ours, and that too for a service position, not a political one. As many as 10,000 registered architects and town planners in Pakistan who all are entitled to vote for elections under the PCATP Ordinance 1983 as the elections are supposed to be conducted after every two years. The last two PCATP elections were conducted successfully through an online system by the same IT company. This year, the elections were again held through online voting from 10am on the 4th March to 10am on the 7th of March. However, on the last night of voting, the voting system got hacked and manipulated. As a result, credibility of the elections has become hotly disputed. The petitioners requested the Convenor PCATP to declare the elections null and void and announce re-elections.

Author

More From Author

1 comment

Does your site have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it but, I’d like to send you an e-mail. I’ve got some ideas for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it develop over time.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

HSU Advocates, Hassan Sharafat & Umer Advocates, Islamabad Bar Council elections 2025, Islamabad Bar Council, HSU Annual Get Together, Gun and Country Club Islamabad, law firm event Islamabad, Sharafat A Chaudhry, legal fraternity Pakistan, bar politics Pakistan, rule of law Pakistan, Islamabad lawyers, top law firms in Islamabad, legal profession news Pakistan, Bar Council leadership, consultative process Bar Council, democratic values in law, HSU law firm news, professional fellowship lawyers, upcoming Bar Council elections, Khudayar Mohla

HSU Advocates Hosts Annual Get Together Ahead of IBC Elections

HSU Advocates held its Annual Get Together at the Gun and Country Club, Islamabad, in…

NIRC Pakistan, National Industrial Relations Commission, Zubair Khan NIRC, Abdul Qayyum Khan NIRC, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, industrial dispute resolution Pakistan, labour justice Pakistan, video link court hearings, NIRC farewell ceremony, labour law Pakistan, judicial reform Pakistan, industrial harmony Pakistan, prompt justice NIRC, Overseas Pakistanis Ministry, Islamabad legal news, Pakistani trade unions, labour courts Pakistan, workers’ rights Pakistan, Islamabad High Court Bar, labour dispute commission Pakistan, Khudayar Mohla

Honouring a Legacy: NIRC Celebrates Service of Zubair Khan and Abdul Qayyum Khan

Speakers at a farewell ceremony on Thursday in honour of two outgoing National Industrial Relations…

Editor, Khudayar Mohla, Farooq Ali case, UK national found dead Islamabad, Farooq Ali murder trial, Dr Rehiana B Ali, suspicious hotel death Pakistan, Islamabad hotel death, postmortem denied by police, FIR 204/22, Section 302 PPC, Section 34 PPC, Islamabad High Court case, forensic investigation failures Pakistan, cover-up by hotel staff, police negligence in murder case, Advocate Sharafat Ali Chaudhry, exhumation report Pakistan, CCTV evidence tampering, Ramada Hotel Islamabad death, private complaint under Section 200 CrPC, justice for Farooq Ali, Pakistani judicial system test, delayed FIR registration, death investigation Pakistan, court verdict May 29 2025, murder cover-up allegations, critical evidence destroyed, criminal justice accountability Pakistan, medico-legal investigation flaws

Verdict Awaited in High-Profile Farooq Ali Murder Case

UK citizen's sister alleges foul play, police cover-up, and forensic mishandling; court to announce judgment…