An election tribunal dismissed a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Aleem Khan challenging the results of the NA-122 by-election held in October 2015, Radio Pakistan reported.
The PTI, in a petition submitted to the tribunal in November, alleged that the PML-N had attempted 'technical rigging' during the by-election, saying that votes had been deleted and new voters were registered.
The party earlier also claimed to have received reports of instances of voting irregularities and gave the example of an incident in which they claimed 30-50 people in one household cast votes during the by-election.
The PTI said the ECP, under the 1974 Electoral Rules Act should take suo motu notice, dismissing the results of the by-poll and ordering an inquiry into the incident, and called for those responsible to be held punishable.
National Assembly (NA) Speaker and PML-N leader Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, who contested the NA-122 by-election against Aleem Khan in October, reclaimed the 'Takht-i-Lahore', from which he had been deseated by an election tribunal in August 2015.
The tribunal's earlier decision followed a petition submitted by PTI Chairman Imran Khan, who had challenged the 2013 election result on grounds of rigging.
Sadiq had been elected to the NA from the same constituency in the 2013 general election, defeating PTI Chairman Imran Khan for the seat.
Ayaz Sadiq had challenged the election tribunal’s decision to deseat him in the Supreme Court on grounds that the "election tribunal’s impugned order was against facts and relevant laws".
But his party had decided to contest the NA-122 by-poll in October in light of the election tribunal’s order.
Following the NA-122 win, Sadiq took oath as an MNA and then was elected the NA speaker again, becoming the first person in the country's history to have been elected NA Speaker for the second time during the same government's tenure.
