GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court on Monday suspended the GB Election Tribunal’s order for counting postal ballot papers and the subsequent proceedings conducted by the returning officer (RO) of the GBA-16 (Diamer-II) constituency until the next hearing of the case.
Chief Judge Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan admitted a petition filed by Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party’s (IPP) Imam Malik seeking suspension of the election tribunal’s Friday decision to suspend his membership of the GB Assembly.
In its short order, the GB court said the petitioner had moved an application before the election tribunal for framing additional material issues regarding tampering with the original record of postal ballot papers, their validity and violations of Sections 141 and 148 of the Elections Act, among other matters.
The order added that the election tribunal, without deciding the application, passed the impugned order without any lawful justification.
The order noted the petitioner’s contention that the RO had initiated the process of counting disputed postal ballot papers in a hasty manner. The next hearing has been fixed for Sept 17.
Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2026
