Federal cabinet approves amendment in Election Act 2017

ISLAMABAD: The cabinet meeting of caretaker federal government approved an amendment in the Election Act 2017 limiting the number of judges in the election tribunal by two.

Interim Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk chaired the meeting which discussed the issues pertaining to the transparency in elections, and approved an amendment to constitute election tribunals to deal with the matters regarding rigging.

The cabinet approved amendment in the sub-clause 3 of Clause 6 of the election act.

The judges comprising the tribunal will be appointed with the consent of the chief justice of respective high court. The tribunals will tackle complaints regarding elections of national and provincial assemblies as well as Senate.

Prior to the amendment, the clause from the Election Act 2017 allowed the appointment of three or more judges, which could pose a difficulty in resolving the issue in the given time period of 120 days due to the unavailability of more than two judges.