PESHAWAR: The Election Tribunal on Wednesday declared election petitions filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Kamran Bangash and former deputy speaker Mahmood Jan as maintainable, rejecting objections raised by the rival candidates.
The tribunal, headed by Justice (r) Lal Jan Khattak, heard the objections filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Member of the Provincial Assembly Malik Tariq Awan and Pakistan People’s Party leader Karamatullah Chagharmatti, who had challenged the maintainability of the petitions.
During the hearing, counsel for the PTI leaders Ali Gohar Durrani, argued that all legal requirements had been fulfilled in filing the election petitions.He contended that the objections were merely aimed at delaying proceedings and held no legal merit.
The counsel pleaded that the results of the February 8 general elections were allegedly altered. According to Form-45 records in their possession, both PTI candidates had secured victory in their respective constituencies.
Kamran Bangash contested from PK-82, while Mahmood Jan contested from PK-72. However, official results issued by the Election Commission declared Malik Tariq Awan and Karamatullah Chagarmatti as winners.
After hearing arguments, the tribunal dismissed the objections and ruled that the petitions were admissible for hearing. Talking to reporters after the hearing, Kamran Bangash said it took over two years for the tribunal to declare the petitions maintainable.
He added that they had consistently pursued the case in courts to protect the public mandate and claimed to possess evidence of alleged rigging, which would be produced before the tribunal in due course.
