LAHORE: An election tribunal comprising Justice Sultan Tanvir Ahmed of the Lahore High Court on Friday dismissed an election petition against Punjab Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafiq and upheld the notification of his victory.

PTI-backed candidate Waqas Iftikhar had challenged the victory of PML-N MPA Zeeshan Rafiq from PP-51, Sialkot.

A counsel for the petitioner claimed that his client was declared winner according to Form 45 but the results in Form 47 showed Zeeshan Rafiq as returned candidate.

Therefore, he asked the tribunal to set aside the notification of MPA Zeeshan Rafiq’s victory.

The minister’s lawyer argued that the petition was not maintainable as it did not meet the legal requirements outlined in the Election Act 2017. He said the petitioner’s contention based on hearsay only and the documents annexed with the petition were not verified by an oath commissioner.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the tribunal dismissed the petition and upheld the minister’s win.

As per the results announced by the ECP, PML-N MPA Zeeshan Rafiq bagged 49,538 while Waqas Iftikhar stood runner-up with 46,905 votes in the Feb 8 election.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2025