ECP establishes appellate tribunals to hear appeals

ECP establishes 12 election tribunals across the country

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday announced the establishment of election tribunals which will hear and dispose of appeals filed against decisions taken by returning officer.

The country's electoral body has established 12 tribunals on the recommendation of chief justices of high courts.

Five tribunals have been established in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). Justice Syed Afsar Shah, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Lal Jan Khattak, Justice Mohammad Ghazanfar, Justice Abdul Shakoor and Justice Ijaz Anwar will be presiding over the trials in the province from Peshawar, Abbotabad, Mingora, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan. Four out of the five tribunals are single bench.



In Punjab, Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, Justice Faisal Zaman Khan, Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi and Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh form the tribunal for Lahore. Justice Masood Abid Naqvi will preside over the Bhawalpur bench, Justice Qazi Mohammad Amin Ahmed and Justice Mirza Viqas will be presiding over Multan bench and Justice Ibadur Rehman will hear cases in Rawalpindi.

Two tribunals will be set up in Sindh and one in Balochistan. Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, Justice Yousaf Ali Sayeed and Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi will be overlooking the principal seat in Karachi. Justice Fahim Siddiqui will overlook the Sukkur bench. Justice Mohammad Hashim Khan Kakkar and Justice Muhammad Ejaz Swati will hold trials at the principal seat in Quetta.

Returning officers (ROs) on Tuesday will conclude the scrutiny of credentials of over 21,000 candidates in the run for the July 25 general elections.

ROs across the country continued the scrutiny process on Monday. For federal capital’s NA-53 constituency PTI chief Imran Khan’s lawyer submitted a written reply to the objections filed against his nomination. His lawyer Babar Awan did not attend the proceedings but filed a reply through his junior. He also moved an application for exemption of Khan from personal appearance before the RO, which was accepted.



A total of 136 candidates filed nomination papers to contest elections for three National Assembly seats for Islamabad.

NA-53 constituency, which consists of most of the Islamabad city areas as well as Bhara Kahu, has attracted the most aspirants with a total of 70 candidates filing papers. Residents are expecting a clash of heavyweights for the seat as both PTI chairman Imran Khan and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi are ready to contest from the constituency.