By APP
Lahore : The Lahore High Court (LHC) has disposed of four election petitions, including one of former Speaker National Assembly Syed Fakhar Imam with the observation that these may be filed before the Election Tribunals.
Syed Fakhar Imam, defeated candidate from the constituency NA-156 Khanewal, had challenged the victory of his rival candidate Raza Hayat Hiraj. Imam had cast allegations of rigging on rival Hiraj.
Another election petition had been filed by Malik Umer Aslam Awan, defeated from NA-69 Khushab, in which he alleged that Election Commission had changed his “victory” in “defeat” by rigging the results given by the Presiding officers.
It is pertinent to mention that Sumera Malik ex-federal minister and President Pakistan Muslim League Women Wing (Quaid-e-Azam) PML-Q was declared returned candidate from the same constituency by securing 61076 votes, while Malik Umer got 60443 votes.
Danial Aziz, Chairman National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) and a defeated candidate from NA-116 Narowal had also filed a petition against his rival returned candidate Chaudhary Tariq Anees and had alleged that FIRs had been registered against Tariq for rigging the elections by casting bogus votes on gunpoint.
Yaseen Khan a defeated candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) from the constituency PP-134 Shakar Garh/Norowal in his petition had alleged that his rival candidate Abbas Chaudhary had maltreated him on Feb 18 and rigged the election by casting bogus votes.
A division bench of LHC comprising Justice Moulvi Anwarul Haq and Justice Zafar Iqbal Chaudhary after hearing the arguments of all the concerned parties separately disposed of the petitions.
The court observed that all these petitions may be filed before the Election Tribunals, constituted by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), as these cases required comprehensive trials.