Tribunal admits poll petitions of PTI candidates

Justice Rauf of Election Tribunal, accepted the election petitions of eight PTI candidates on first day

RAWALPINDI:

The Election Tribunal of High Court Rawalpindi Bench became active on the order of the Chief Justice Lahore High Court.

Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf, the judge of the Election Tribunal, accepted the election petitions of eight Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates on the first day and issued notices to all successful Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) candidates, returning officers, and the Election Commission, summoning them on July 1.

The PML-N assembly members have been summoned in their personal capacity. The election petitions claim that the petitioners won with a margin of 40,000 to 55,000 votes in the February 8 election. They possess the Election Commission’s Form 45, indicating their victory, but were declared defeated in Form 47 due to alleged vote manipulation, violating the constitution and the law. They should be declared successful according to the Form 45 results.

Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf heard eight election petitions on the first day, summoning eight members of the National and Provincial assemblies, including Barrister Daniyal Chaudhary, Shaikh Aftab, and Malik Suhail. The Election Tribunal also ordered that the summon notices be given to print and electronic media.

These petitions were filed by Seemabia Tahir, Major Tahir Sadiq, Iman Wasim, Colonel R. Shabbir Awan, Khaliq Ziad Kayani, and Ezra Masood. The hearing of the eight electoral petitions will be held on Tuesday (today).

In total, election petitions have been filed for 14 seats of the National Assembly and 24 seats of the Provincial Assembly from Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum, and Chakwal districts. This was a preliminary hearing, with regular hearings to follow.

PTI candidates from Rawalpindi district, including Major Latasab Sati Murri, Colonel Ajmal Sabir, Shehryar Riaz, Raja Basharat, and Seemabia Tahir, along with all provincial candidates, have challenged the election results of Form 47.