Daily Times

A three-member bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday dismissed the writ petitions of several PTI leaders, including founder Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, Hammad Azhar, and activist Sanam Javed, challenging decisions by the election appellate tribunal, which had dismissed their appeals against the rejection of their nomination papers by the Returning Officers (ROs).

The bench, headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, heard numerous petitions related to the acceptance or dismissal of PTI lawmakers’ nomination papers. Yesterday, the same bench had reserved decisions on these pleas, and today, it announced the dismissal of the writ petitions.

However, the bench did dismiss petitions challenging the acceptance of nomination papers for PTI’s Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Rihana Dar, Qaisara Elahi, and others. These candidates were allowed to contest the elections as the decisions of the election appellate tribunals were upheld. Imran Khan, PTI’s founder, had filed writ petitions against the election appellate tribunal’s decisions that rejected his nomination papers submitted from NA-122 Lahore and NA-89 Mianwali. The ROs had rejected Khan’s papers, leading him to challenge their decisions before the tribunals, which were subsequently dismissed.

Khan argued that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) lacked jurisdiction to disqualify someone, emphasising the pending matters before the Supreme Court. His counsel also highlighted discrepancies in the delimitation process and questioned the rejection based on the Toshakhana case.

In the case of PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the law officer and the ECP representative opposed the request to set aside the appellate election tribunal’s decision. They argued that due process was not followed in the submission of Qureshi’s nomination papers, emphasising the lack of proper attestation and highlighting issues with the authority letter. Qureshi’s counsel refuted these claims, arguing that all necessary procedures were followed.

During Sanam Javed’s proceedings, concerns were raised about recent amendments in Election Rules regarding individual bank accounts for contestants. The ECP’s representative relied on the amendment, but Javed’s lawyers argued that there was no official notification or information on the ECP’s website about this change. The discrepancy in earnings reported in tax returns and joint account transactions added complexity to the case.

The larger bench also dismissed Fawad Chaudhry’s writ petition against the tribunal’s decision on his nomination papers and rejected pleas from former CM Punjab Pervez Elahi. Elahi faced allegations of involvement in money laundering cases and discrepancies in property details and bank accounts across multiple constituencies, which his counsels vehemently denied.