ECP notifies appointment of 24 judges for election tribunals

• Judges to dispose of appeals against decision of ROs. 
• Nine judges to act as tribunals in Punjab, six in Sindh. 
• 5-day deadline for filing of nominations ended on Sunday.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) notified the appointment of 24 judges as appellate tribunals who will dispose of the appeals filed against rejection or acceptance of nomination papers of candidates for the upcoming elections, The News reported Monday.

The development came after the five-day deadline for the filing of nominations for general elections — set to take place on February 8, 2024 — ended on Sunday. 

“In pursuance of sub-section (1) of Section 63 of the Elections Act, 2017, the Election Commission of Pakistan is pleased to appoint the Appellate Tribunals for disposal of appeals against the decisions of the Returning Officers, regarding rejection or acceptance of the nomination papers of candidates for General Elections-2024 of the National Assembly, all Provincial Assembly Constituencies and seats Reserved for Women and Non-Muslims with jurisdiction mentioned against each Appellate Tribunal,” says the ECP notification.

As many as nine judges will act as tribunals in Punjab, followed by six in Sindh, five in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two each in Balochistan and the federal capital.

According to Section 62 of the Act, any voter of a constituency may file objections to the candidature of a candidate who has been nominated or whose name has been included in the party list submitted by a political party for election to an assembly to the returning officer within the period specified by the commission for the scrutiny of nomination papers of the contestants. 

"The candidates, their election agents, the proposers and seconders and one other person authorised on this behalf by each candidate, and a voter who has filed an objection under sub-section (1), may attend the scrutiny of nomination papers, and the Returning Officer…," reads the section.

Likewise, under Section 63 of the Act, "A candidate or the objector may, within the time specified by the Commission, file an appeal against the decision of the Returning Officer rejecting or accepting a nomination paper to an Appellate Tribunal constituted for the constituency consisting of a person who is a Judge of a High Court appointed by the Commission in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned… An Appellate Tribunal shall summarily decide an appeal filed under sub-section (1) within such time as may be notified by the Commission and any order passed on the appeal shall be final. (3) If the Appellate Tribunal is not able to decide the appeal within the time fixed by the Commission under sub-section (2), the appeal shall abate and the decision of the Returning Officer shall be final."

The nominations, according to Article 51(3) of the Constitution, are filed for the National Assembly’s 266 general seats, with 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for non-Muslims: Balochistan’s total of 20 NA seats, including 16 general and four reserved seats for women; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 45 general NA seats and 10 reserved seats for women; Sindh’s total of 75 NA seats of which 61 are general and remaining 14 are reserved for women.

Similarly, Punjab has the biggest share of 141 general NA seats and 32 seats reserved for women. The federal capital has representation of three general seats in the National Assembly with no seat reserved for women.

Article 106 deals with the constituencies of four provincial legislatures. Under this article, Balochistan comprises 51 general seats, 11 reserved for women and three for non-Muslims, bringing the total number to 65.

Likewise, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa consists of 115 general seats, 26 seats reserved for women and four seats for non-Muslims and the total number of seats in the legislature stands at 145.

Sindh consists of 130 general seats, whereas 29 seats are reserved for women and nine seats for non-Muslims and the total number of seats is 168. Punjab comprises as many as 297 general seats, 66 reserved for women and eight for non-Muslims. The total strength of the provincial legislature is 371 seats.