Punjab election commission's tribunal on Saturday ordered re-polling in National Assembly constituency, NA-122, declaring the election in the constituency null and void – accepting Imran Khan's petition challenging the 2013 result on grounds of rigging.
Ayaz Sadiq can however, appeal the tribunal's verdict in the Supreme Court.
National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had defeated PTI Chairman Imran Khan in the 2013 general elections from NA-122 after which PTI had challenged the results.
A large number of supporters from Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had gathered outside the election commission office, chanting slogans in support of their leaders and against each other's.
Tribunal member Kazim Ali Malik had on Aug 17 reserved the verdict after Sadiq's counsel concluded his arguments against the petition filed by PTI Chairman Imran Khan, the runner-up candidate from the constituency.
The tribunal had issued special passes to five persons from each side — PTI and PML-N — to hear the decision.
NA-122 was among the four controversial constituencies — the other three being NA-110 (Sialkot), NA-125 (Lahore) and NA-154 (Lodhran) — where PTI had demanded for voters’ thumbprint verification in the hopes of finding a solution that might be acceptable to all concerned.
It is to be mentioned here that proceedings of Imran Khan’s petition remained suspended for a year. The Lahore High Court on Nov 4, 2013, had granted a stay to the NA speaker against the proceedings before the tribunal. The court on Nov 20, 2014, recalled the stay order and allowed the tribunal to proceed with the case.
The PTI chief visited the election tribunal twice; first on Nov 26, 2014, with a request not to combine decisions of NA-122 and PP-147 and the second time on Dec 6, 2014, to record his statement. The NA speaker also recorded his statement before the tribunal on Feb 7, 2015.
The tribunal appointed a retired sessions judge as local commission on Dec 8, 2014. On tribunal’s order, Nadra held an inspection of the constituency record and submitted its final report on May 9, 2015. The authority submitted a supplementary report on May 30.
