NA body okays amendment to Elections Bill 2024

ISLAMABAD: The Standing Committee of National Assembly on Parliamentary Affairs, in its maiden meeting on Thursday, gave approval to an amendment to the Elections (Amendment) Bill 2024 (Ord No V of 2024) with a majority vote that seeks to restore the original provision of Section 140, making retired high court judges eligible for appointment as members of election tribunals.

A meeting of the committee was held with Rana Iradat Sharif in the chair. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Senator Azam Nazir Tarar briefed the meeting on the proposed amendment to Section 140 of the Election Act 2023.

The amendment aims to expedite the settlement of petitions pertaining to elections of the National Assembly, the Senate, provincial assemblies, and local governments.

Tarar said due to the workload on serving judges, the proposed amendment sought to restore the original provision of Section 140, making retired high court judges eligible for appointment as members of election tribunals. Additionally, for local government elections, the amendment proposes making retired district and session judges eligible for appointment as members of election tribunals. After deliberations, the committee passed the proposed amendment with a majority.

The meeting was attended by MNAs Raja Osama Sarwar, Shaikh Aftab Ahmed, Raja Qamar-ul-Islam, Mahmood Bashir Virk, Saad Waseem, Ali Musa Gillani, Malik Shah, Izbal Zehri, Naveed Aamir, Nikhat Shakeel, Sahibzada Sibghatullah, Ali Muhammad, Hameed Hussain, Shahida Begum and the secretary Ministry of parliamentary affairs.