
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has suspended Election Tribunal (ET) verdict and stopped by-elections in NA-154 Lodhran, scheduled on October 11, 2015.The three-judge bench, headed by Justice Saqib Nisar issued the verdict on the petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Siddique Baloch in which he had challenged his disqualification for life.He had also prayed for halting by-elections in the constituency.The bench also ordered reinstatement of Siddique Baloch's National Assembly membership.In a short order, the tribunal had declared the academic degree of Siddique Khan Baloch as fake and his election from the National Assembly constituency in the 2013 polls null and void and ordered a re-election.Siddique Khan Baloch — an independent candidate — had won the National Assembly seat in the 2013 general elections and later joined the PML-N.Baloch hab been given a lifelong disqualification for violating articles 62, 63 by submitting a fake degree and on rigging charges.Justice (retd) Zahid Mehmood had issued the verdict on the petition filed by the runner-up candidate Jehangir Tareen of PTI who had challenged the whole election besides Baloch’s degree.