LAHORE, March 18: An election tribunal of the Lahore High Court declared on Thursday that it would frame charges against Punjab Assembly Speaker Afzal Sahi on April 12 on the basis of an election petition.

Petitioner Chaudhry Liaquat Ali had challenged the election of Afzal Sahi from PP-51, Faisalabad, accusing him of indulging in rigging and other corrupt practices.

The tribunal decided about framing of charges against the respondent after rejecting his application seeking permission to amend his written reply which he had submitted in response to the petitioner's charges.

Afzal Sahi had, through a miscellaneous application, challenged the vires of the petition claiming that it suffered from legal infirmity. The petitioner's counsel objected to the application terming it a ploy to delay a decision. He submitted that the respondent had filed a similar application in the past and it was rejected by the tribunal.

He contended that the respondent should be proceeded against for misleading the court and delaying proceedings. Observing that the tribunal could not be misled, it rejected the application and declared that proceedings would go unhindered from April 12.

Earlier, the petitioner had submitted that he had lost to Afzal Sahi by 1,075 votes while the number of votes rejected was 1,349 and a majority of them were for him. He contended that the electoral rolls provided to the election staff were different from those supplied to candidates.

He alleged that many of his supporters were prevented from casting their votes. Besides, the local administrative staff was seen openly supporting Mr Sahi. The Faisalabad district council and Nazim Zahid Nazir openly canvassed for him.