LAHORE: An election tribunal on Tuesday dismissed an election petition against Information Minister Attaullah Tarar’s victory from NA-127 in the 2024 general elections as non-maintainable.

The decision was announced by the tribunal, comprising retired justice Rana Zahid Mehmood, on the election petition filed by PTI-backed independent candidate Zaheer Abbas Khokhar, who had contested against Tarar.

Khokhar had 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 had also contested the 2024 general election from the same constituency; however, he stood third with 15,005 votes.

The tribunal dismissed the petition on technical grounds, declaring it not maintainable for failing to comply with statutory requirements under the Election Act 2017.

In his petition, Khokhar had 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 of Pakistan (ECP) had manipulated and forged Forms-45 and -47 to declare the respondent a returned candidate.

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

The election tribunal had previously sought arguments on the maintainability of the election petition in November 2024.