ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Wednesday formed 20 election tribunals for the trial and disposal of election petitions pertaining to the constituencies of the national and provincial assemblies.
In a notification issued here, the ECP said that high court judges will be heading the tribunals. A total of four tribunals have been formed for Sindh, three for Balochistan, eight for Punjab, and five for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“The tribunals have been set up under the provisions of Section 140 of the Elections Act, 2017, and on the recommendations of the chief justice high court concerned,” a notification, issued by the Election Commission said.
The Lahore High Court’s Justice Mamoon Rashid, Justice Shahid Mubeen, Justice Shahid Jameel Khan, Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal, Justice Muhammad Ameer Bhatti, Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem, Justice Mujahid Mustaqeem and Justice Mirza Wiqas Rauf have been appointed to head each of the eight tribunals in Punjab.
Similarly, for the four tribunals in Sindh, Justice Omar Sial, Justice Yousuf Ali Sayeed, Justice Muhammad Shafi Siddiqui and Justice Khadim Hussain from the Sindh High Court have been appointed as tribunals. For the three Balochistan tribunals, Justice Hashim Khan Kakar, Justice Abdullah Baloch and Justice Nazeer Ahmed Langove of the Balochistan High Court have been appointed as heads.
Likewise, Peshawar High Court’s Justice Ms Mussarat Hilali, Justice Lal Jan Khattak, Justice Muhammad Ghazanfar Khan, Justice Abdul Shakoor Khan and Justice Aijaz Anwar have been named to head each of the five tribunals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.The Election Commission has said that the tribunals have been directed to redress all grievances of the election candidates within four months.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of Pakistan clarified a statement from President Mamnoon Hussain reported in the media that the Election Commission should satisfy public about the general election. The Election Commission issued a clarification and said that it was extremely important to clarify that in case of even a slight doubt of rigging, there was a procedure as per the law. “In such situation, a petition can be filed in the Election Commission or an election tribunal, which can be decided and will be decided in the light of the law and evidence,” it noted.
Regarding the media reports on recovery of election documents from a federal capital tanadoor, the Election Commission also said in a statement, clarifying that the poll material that had been discovered was neither sensitive nor important. The Election Commission pointed out that the material, which was used to wrap naan for customers before it caught attention of a reporter was in fact ‘instructional material’, which had been provided to schools and colleges for the training of staff tasked with election duties.
The material had been provided in large volumes and at times, those being trained might have left those documents there. Some 871,000 persons were imparted training regarding the conduct of poll process across Pakistan at schools and colleges. The Election Commission emphasised that the material that was sensitive and important was safely stored in the Election Commission’s “strong rooms” under the protection of the security provided by the army.