2008 general elections, by-elections: complaints against candidates were sent to concerned quarters, National Assembly told

Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Dr Babar Awan has informed the National Assembly on Friday that the complaints received against the candidates contesting general elections 2008 as well as subsequent bye-elections were immediately sent to the concerned quarters eg Chief Secretaries, Ministry of Interior, District and Sessions Judges (DRO) for appropriate action in accordance with law.
In a written reply, he said that some of the complaints were sent for comments/reports after obtaining approval from the competent authority. After receipt of inquiry reports, most of the complaints/applications were found baseless as the allegations levelled therein were of general nature. Hence, no action was taken against any candidate.
However, the petitions filed under section 103 and section 103-AA of Representation of the People Act, 1976 regarding re-counting, re-polling or declaring election void were decided by the Election Commission after hearing the concerned parties, whereas, the Election Petitions filed under section 52 of the said Act were referred to the Election Tribunals for trial and disposal in accordance with law.
To another question regarding new local bodies elections, he said soon after the 18th Constitutional Amendment, 2010, whereby the Election Commission has been entrusted with the duty of conducting Local Government Elections in all the four Provinces under Article 140-A read with Articles 218 and 219 of the Constitution, the Chief Secretaries were asked to suitably amend the Local Government Election Laws and the Rules as per Constitutional requirements and inform the ECP accordingly to enable the Election Commission to issue the schedule for holding the Local Government Elections in the Provinces, which is still awaited.