BAHAWALPUR: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has wound up the Bahawalpur election tribunal while the tenure of other four tribunals in Punjab has been extended for another two months.

The Bahawalpur tribunal has been disbanded following the disposal of the election petitions by the deadline of April 30. The tribunals at Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi will continue to function till the completion of the disposal of their petitions during the next two months by June 30.

Deputy Election Commissioner (Bahawalpur Region) Haji Mansoor Ahmed told Dawn that the ECP had issued a notification stating that the contract of the local tribunal head, retired district and sessions judge Chaudhry Abdul Hafeez, had expired on April 30 and as such the tribunal stood dissolved.

As regards the staff of the tribunal, he said, the services of all its officials stood expired. He said a new notification might clarify the status of the staff. Among the staff members are tribunal chairman’s reader, steno and peon who have appealed to the ECP to save them from unemployment by accommodating them in the offices of the deputy election commissioner, Bahawalpur region, or district election commissioner.

The tribunal on Thursday vacated its rented building and the paraphernalia was handed over to the deputy election commissioner office.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2015

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