ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Monday announced that it will establish 14 election tribunals across the country for four months from the day of polling to hear election disputes.
An ECP official told Radio Pakistan that these election tribunals would be separate from the appellate tribunals hearing appeals against the decisions of returning officers.Of these 14 election tribunals‚ 5 would be established in Punjab and 3 each in Sindh‚ Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).Furthermore, the election tribunals would hear cases related to disputes including rigging‚ harassments‚ disqualifications‚ fresh polls‚ re-polls‚ re-counts‚ election results and other types of disagreements.
These tribunals would comprise of retired high courts judges or senior judges from district and session courts would hear the dispute cases on day-to-day basis and would have to finish all hearings within four months.The election tribunals would also have the powers to impose fines on candidates responsible for delaying the hearings. – PT
