ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced its reserved verdict and approved the request to change the Election Tribunal of Islamabad.
The ECP approved the request made by Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) from Islamabad.
In February this year, an Islamabad High Court (IHC) division bench comprising Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir suspended the ECP’s victory notifications for PML-N’s victories in Islamabad’s NA-46, 47, and 48 seats.
The IHC specifically suspended the notification of Tariq Fazl Chaudhry from NA-47 following an intra-court appeal. The intra-court appeal challenged a previous verdict by IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq, which dismissed the plea to suspend the victory notifications of the NA-46, NA-47, and NA-48 constituencies.
An IHC judge questioned who was issuing these notifications within the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). In the elections held on February 8, Tariq Fazl Chaudhry from the NA-47 Islamabad National Assembly seat received 102,502 votes, while PTI-backed Shohaib Shaheen garnered 87,396 votes.
Before the 2024 elections, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) changed Tariq Fazl Chaudhry’s constituency in Islamabad. PML-N senior leader Ishaq Dar announced that Chaudhry would contest from NA-47. Previously, the party had designated him for NA-48. The PML-N had issued the ticket for NA-46 to Anjum Aqeel Khan.
Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir heard the intra-court appeal case of Amir Mehmood Mughal, the candidate for Constituency NA-46 Islamabad-I.
Aamir Mughal’s lawyer claimed that there were 343 polling stations in his client’s constituency, and based on the results, he was leading.
“According to Form-45, Aamir Mughal’s votes were 85,224, while his opponent Anjum Aqeel’s votes were 43,604. However, according to Form-47, Aamir Mughal’s votes were reduced to 44,317, while Anjum Aqeel’s votes increased to 51,958,” the lawyer argued.
