Daily Times

The Lahore High Court (LHC) dismissed on Thursday the decision of an appellate tribunal to disqualify for life former premier Shahid Khaqani Abbasi and bar him from contesting polls from NA-57 Murree.

An election tribunal had found the former premier guilty of concealment of facts, after it accepted objections raised by petitioner Masood Ahmed Abbasi against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader’s papers, including that of tampering with his nomination papers for his home constituency, NA-57. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was then disqualified from contesting in the upcoming polls.

The LHC had later overruled the appellate tribunal’s decision, allowing Abbasi to contest in the General Election 2018 from his home constituency of NA-57, Murree in an interim order.

Hearing the case on Thursday, the court allowed Abbasi to contest the July 25 polls from his home constituency.

Similarly, the LHC also formally allowed Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry to contest from Jhelum’s NA-67 constituency after dismissing the tribunal’s decision barring him from contesting the elections.

Hearing the case on Wednesday, the court had inquired why Abbasi was making anti-judiciary speeches.

“The court is not siding with anyone,” an LHC judge observed. “When the Supreme Court announced its verdict, you said he was your prime minister. You are trying to destroy the system.”

The High Court had also summoned on Wednesday the returning officer (RO) of NA-57 for the hearing of Abbasi’s petition against the tribunal’s verdict. The officer had accepted the former premier’s nomination papers.

The petitioner had contended that Abbasi had first attached a Rs 100 stamp paper with his papers and added a Rs 500 stamp paper later on. He had also accused Abbasi of illegally occupying Lawrence College forest and understating the ownership of his house in F-7/2. The constituency’s RO, who had originally accepted Abbasi’s papers, was suspended after he admitted his error.

In his written order on rejection of Abbasi’s candidature, Judge Ibadur Rahman Lodhi said that the former premier was “guilty of concealment of facts and withholding of complete information from his voters”. He also went on to declare that Abbasi was not qualified to be elected a member of parliament according to Article 62 of the constitution. Elaborating on the decision, the judge stated that Abbasi had declared the value of his house in Islamabad to be Rs 300,000 but put it under mortgage against an amount of Rs 24.7 million.

He also noted the discrepancies in two affidavits submitted by Abbasi as one had mentioned shares in Air Blue and Blue Pines Inn Murree, “after interpolation”, while the other did not.

Abbasi on Thursday said his party will contest the elections and let the public decide its fate.

Published in Daily Times, July 6^th 2018.