Presiding Officers Authorised First-class Magistrate Powers

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has authorised the presiding officers, appointed for each polling station for conducting by-elections in 21 constituencies of the National Assembly to exercise the powers of a first-class magistrate under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Feb, 2023 ) :The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has authorised the presiding officers, appointed for each polling station for conducting by-elections in 21 Constituencies of the National Assembly to exercise the powers of a first-class magistrate under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898).

The ECP notified this in pursuance of provisions of section 193 of the Election Act, 2017. The powers will be exercised during by-elections, from March 15 to March 17 this year, in respect of the offences punishable under sections 169, section 171 and section 174 of Election Act 2017.

According to the notification, these offences shall be tried in a summary way in accordance with the provisions under section 190 of the code of Criminal procedure and shall try it summarily under chapter XX of the code.

The constituencies where by-elections were being held include: NA-04 Swat, NA-17 Haripur, NA-18 Swabi, NA-25 and NA-26 Nowshera, NA-32 Kohat, NA-38 Dera Ismail Khan, NA-43 Khyber, NA-52, 53, and NA-54 Islamabad, NA-241, 242. 243, 244, 247, 250, 252, 254, and NA-256 Karachi and NA-265 Quetta.