Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday dismissed an appeal against the acceptance of nomination papers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Kulsoom Nawaz for NA-120 by-elections.

A three-member SC bench, comprising Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Maqbool Baqar, observed that the petitioner, who lost the by-poll to Kulsoom Nawaz on Sunday, did not provide sufficient details in support of his contentions. The plea was filed by the PPP candidate for NA-120 by-poll, Faisal Mir, who lost the election. Justice Gulzar Ahmed observed that the petitioner could not provide proof of allegations he had leveled in his plea. Justice Maqbool Baqar remarked that there were alternative forums for remedy available to the petitioner, such as the election tribunal.

“The matter pertains to the democratic process, so it cannot be taken lightly,” Justice Qazi Faez Isa observed. He said that the mandate of the people needed to be respected. He said the case could not be taken forward without presentation of facts. The plea was filed against the Lahore High Court (LHC) decision to dismiss the applications challenging candidature of Kulsoom Nawaz for NA-120 by-poll. In his plea, Faisal Mir stated that Kulsoom Nawaz had failed to submit details of her tax returns and statements of assets and liability.

He contended that she deliberately concealed her assets and did not disclose the agreement for a United Arab Emirates iqama (work permit) attached with her nomination papers, thus she was ineligible to contest the by-poll under Articles 62 and 62 of the Constitution. He requested the court to set aside or quash the LHC’s September 13 decision, which dismissed the appeals challenging the acceptance of Kulsoom’s nomination papers. In their applications before the LHC, PPP’s Faisal Mir, Advocate Ishtiaq Ahmad Chaudhry of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Nabeel Shahzad of the Milli Muslim League (MML) had challenged the decisions of the returning officer and an election tribunal, which had accepted the nomination papers of Kulsoom Nawaz.

Published in Daily Times, September 19^th 2017.