Daily Times

LAHORE: A full bench of the Lahore High Court with majority decision dismissed all petitions seeking disqualification of former first lady Kulsoom Nawaz who is a candidate in National Assembly constituency NA-120, Lahore, the seat that fell vacant after disqualification of her spouse Nawaz Sharif.

“For the reasons to be recorded separately, these petitions stand dismissed on the basis of majority view,” a short order released by the court read.

The verdict was announced with a 2-1 majority. Justice Aminuddin Khan headed the full bench along with Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi and Justice Shahid Jamil Khan.

Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Shahid Jamil Khan rejected the petitions whereas Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi dissented from the majority view.

During hearing of these petitions, Returning Officer (RO) Muhammad Shahid appeared before the bench and informed that he rejected the objections against the nomination papers of Kulsoom Nawaz after a summary trial.

The petitioners’ counsel said that the RO under the law was bound to give reasons for dismissing the objections but he failed to follow the relevant laws. He said that the RO and later the election tribunal failed to appreciate the details of the objections regarding concealment of assets and misinformation regarding tax returns by Kulsoom Nawaz.

Published in Daily Times, September 14^th 2017.