Over half of election petitions still await decisions by tribunals: Fafen

ISLAMABAD: The Election Tribunals decided 35 election petitions related to the General Election 2024 (GE-2024) between April 21 and July 31, 2025, bringing the total number of resolved petitions to 171 – 46 per cent of the overall caseload pending before 23 tribunals across the four provinces.

Through its systematic tracking, Fafen has identified 374 election petitions — 124 challenging the electoral outcomes in the National Assembly (NA) constituencies and 250 in the Provincial Assemblies’ (PA) constituencies. So far, approximately two-thirds (62 percent) of the petitions related to NA constituencies, and half (50 percent) of those pertaining to PA constituencies, remain undecided. According to Fafen update on Election Tribunals, during the reporting period, 28 of the 35 decided petitions were from Punjab, three each from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one from Balochistan.

In Punjab, four Lahore-based tribunals decided 15 petitions, Bahawalpur tribunal decided nine, while the Rawalpindi and Multan tribunals decided two each. In Sindh, two Karachi tribunals decided three petitions. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Bannu tribunal decided three cases while in Balochistan, a Quetta tribunal decided one petition. While Punjab tribunals have gained pace in deciding the petitions, adjudication process in the remaining three provinces has slowed noticeably since April 2025. As many as 12 out of the 23 election tribunals have not concluded any petitions since April 21, 2025. Overall, Balochistan’s three tribunals have collectively decided 44 out of 52 petitions (85 percent) filed for NA and PA constituencies.

Punjab’s eight tribunals have resolved 94 out of 192 petitions (49 percent). Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s six tribunals have decided 12 out of 43 petitions (28 percent), while Sindh’s five tribunals have disposed of 21 out of 84 petitions (25 percent).

Out of 124 petitions challenging National Assembly constituency results, 47 (38 percent) have been decided so far and these include 30 from Punjab, nine from Balochistan, five from Sindh, and three from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Regarding Provincial Assembly constituencies, 124 out of 250 petitions (50 percent) have been decided, including 64 from Punjab, 35 from Balochistan, 16 from Sindh, and nine from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Out of the 171 petitions decided so far, 168 have been dismissed, while only three have been accepted. Among the 168 dismissals, 81 petitions (48 percent)—including 24 related to NA constituencies and 57 to PA constituencies—were dismissed on grounds of non-maintainability. Another 22 petitions (13 percent)—three from NA and 19 from PA constituencies—were dismissed after petitioners failed to prove their case during trial proceedings.

Additionally, eight petitions (five percent)—three from NA and five from PA constituencies—were withdrawn by the petitioners. Fourteen petitions (eight percent)—five from NA and nine from PA constituencies—were dismissed due to non-prosecution. Moreover, three petitions (one percent) were dismissed for miscellaneous reasons, such as the death or resignation of the returned candidate, or non-compliance with court orders.

The Fafen in its update stated that it has yet to obtain copies of tribunal decisions for 40 dismissed petitions—11 related to NA constituencies and 29 to PA constituencies—so the reasons for dismissal in these cases remain unknown.

The three accepted petitions were related to constituencies of the Balochistan Assembly including PB-44 Quetta-VII, PB-45 Quetta-VIII and PB-36 Kalat. The tribunals ordered re-polling at 16 polling stations of PB-44, 15 polling stations of PB-45, and seven polling stations of PB-36. Re-polling in PB-45 was held on January 5, 2025, returning the previous winner of PPPP to the seat. Re-polling in the other two constituencies did not take place. The order for repoll was earlier stayed by the Balochistan High Court and later was reversed in an appeal before the Supreme Court, while the Election Commission has postponed re-polling in PB-36 twice due to the prevailing law and order situation.

The independent candidates supported by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) make the largest group of petitioners with 55 percent of total petitions filed by them, followed by Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) candidates (13 percent), Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) candidates (eight percent), unaffiliated independent candidates (seven percent) and Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam Pakistan (JUI-P) candidates (seven percent).

As many as 16 other parties’ candidates cumulatively account for the remaining 12 percent of the total petitions.

Around 65 percent petitions of independent candidates, 54 percent of PPPP, 54 percent of PML-N, 40 percent of JUI-F, and 38 percent of PTI-Backed independent candidates have been disposed of till date. The returned candidates belonging to PML-N make the largest group of defendants with 39 percent of the petitions challenging their victory, followed by PTI-backed candidates (16 percent), Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP) candidates and PPPP candidates (13 percent each), unaffiliated independents (six percent) and JUI-P (five percent). As many as 11 other defendant parties’ candidates cumulatively account for the remaining eight percent petitions. So far, 84 decisions of election tribunals have been contested before the Supreme Court and among these, three appeals were initiated by the returned candidates against whom election petitions had been accepted.

Of these appeals, one filed by the PPPP’s returned candidate in PB-44 Quetta-VII was allowed by the Supreme Court, setting aside the election tribunal’s ruling that had accepted the petition of the National Party candidate.

Another appeal, lodged by the PPPP’s returned candidate in PB-45 Quetta-VIII, was dismissed by the apex court, thereby upholding the decision of the election tribunal. The third appeal, filed by the BAP’s returned candidate in PB-36 Kalat, remains pending adjudication.

Additionally, 81 appeals have been filed against the rejection of election petitions by the respective election tribunals and of these, Supreme Court has so far dismissed twelve appeals upholding the tribunals’ decisions.

These dismissed appeals were filed by candidates belonging to PPPP (four), PTI-backed independents (three), NP (two), and BNP-A, JUI-P, and unaffiliated independent (one each). The remaining 71 appeals—21 pertaining to the National Assembly and 50 to the Provincial Assemblies—are currently under adjudication. These include 26 petitions challenging results in constituencies of Balochistan, 37 in Punjab, and eight in Sindh.