' SAIDUZZAMAN SIDDIQUI, J.---The petitioner is seeking leave to appeal against the judgment of learned Election Tribunal, Peshawar, dated 12-5-1997 whereby the learned Tribunal overruled a preliminary objection raised by the petitioner challenging the maintainability of the Election Petition No,49 of 1997 filed by respondent No,1 to challenge election of the petitioner as a Member of Provincial Assembly of North-West Frontier Province, PF-22 Mardan-5. The grant of leave in the above petition is opposed by respondent No,1, who has filed caveat in the case.
2. The only contention raised by Mr. Qazi Muhammad Anwar, the learned counsel for the petitioner before us, is that as the preliminary objection raised by the petitioner to the maintainability of the election petition has been overruled by the learned Election Tribunal, he will be debarred from raising this objection again in the appeal which may arise from the final decision of the Tribunal on the ground that such objection has become barred by time. The learned counsel for the caveator on the other hand, contends that the order passed by the Tribunal being only interlocutory in nature the appeal against such an order of the Tribunal is not maintainable before this Court. The learned counsel in support of the above contention has placed reliance on the case of Mian Ejaz Shafi v. Syed Ali Ashraf Shah and 12 others (PLD 1994 SC 867).
3. After hearing the learned counsel for the parties, we are of the view that as the main election petition is still pending before the learned Tribunal and an appeal is provided against the final decision of the Tribunal before this Court, the petitioner in the event of the final decision going against him, will be entitled to raise all the pleas available to him, in the appeal before this Court including the preliminary objection as to the maintainability of the petition which has been overruled by the learned Tribunal by the impugned judgment. With these observations, the petition stands disposed of, accordingly.