ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan will establish 14 Election Tribunals throughout the country for 4 months from the day of polling to hear election disputes.
Tribunals hearing the appeals against the decisions of Returning Officers.
Of these 14 Election Tribunals‚ 5 will be established in Punjab and 3 each in Sindh‚ Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Election Tribunals will hear the cases related to disputes including rigging‚ harassments‚ disqualifications‚ fresh polls‚ re-polls‚ re-counts‚ election results and other such type of disagreements.
These tribunals will comprise of retired High Courts judges or senior judges from District and Session Courts will hear dispute cases on day-to-day basis and will have to finish all hearing within four months.
Election Tribunals will also have the powers to impose fines on candidates responsible for delaying the hearings.
These Election Tribunals disposed of 250 dispute cases‚ of which 29 came from Balochistan‚ 106 Punjab‚ 61 NWFP‚ 51 Sindh‚ 2 FATA and 1 from Federal Capital in 2008 polls.