LAHORE: An election tribunal on Monday sought arguments on the maintainability of an election petition against the victory of Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar from NA-124, Lahore.

The tribunal, comprising former judge Zahid Mahmood Rana, heard the petition filed by Zaheer Abbas Khokhar, who stood runner-up as PTI-backed independent candidate.

Khokhar lost his election to Tarar with a margin of 15,980 votes as the latter bagged 98,210 votes against 82,230 of the former.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also contested the election from the same constituency, however, he stood third with 15,005 votes.

During the hearing, Khokhar’s lawyer requested time for preparation of his arguments, while the federal minister’s counsel raised objections to the petition’s maintainability.

The tribunal adjourned the hearing till Nov 29 and directed the petitioner’s counsel to present arguments on the point of the maintainability first.

In his petition, Khokhar alleged the impugned notification of the respondent’s victory was a result of corrupt and illegal practices committed on the polling day.

He alleged that the election commission manipulated and forged Form 45 and 47 to declare the respondent a returned candidate.

He asked the tribunal to set aside the impugned notification and declare the petitioner a returned candidate from NA-127.

Nargis case: A sessions court on Monday extended the interim pre-arrest bail of police Inspector Majid Bashir, the husband of stage actor Nargis, in a case of domestic violence against his wife.

The inspector did not appear before the court and his lawyer filed a written request for one-time exemption from personal appearance. The lawyer said Bashir could not attend the hearing due to the death of a close relative in Faisalabad.

The court accepted the request and extended the bail till Dec 2 with a direction to the suspect to join the investigation of the case against him.

Nargis had filed a case against her husband with Defense C police station, alleging physical violence and life threats.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2024