Daily Times

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday postponed the proceedings on three separate petitions against the candidacy of politicians contesting polls from different constituencies of Punjab. A three-judge apex court bench headed by Justice Azmat Sheikh remarked that the petitions would be heard after upcoming general elections.

The court granted the permission to contest elections to the PTI candidate from NA-146 Ahmad Joiya and two independent candidates Badshah Qaisrani and Khwaja Islam contesting from PP-285 (DG Khan) and PP-111 (Faisalabad), respectively, while observing that the court would hear complaints against them once elections were conducted. Petitioner Waseem Zafar had filed a complaint against PTI’s candidate Ahmad Joiya’s candidature alleging that in the previous three elections Joiya had mentioned his educational qualification to be a graduate.

The affidavit submitted by him, to the top court, in recent polls reads that he is a matriculate, the petition adds. Last week, the Supreme Court ordered the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to halt investigations against PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur in the fake bank accounts case till the coming general elections were over. “We do not want excuses that the July 25 elections are rigged,” observed Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar while hearing a suo motu case regarding the fake accounts and suspicious transactions worth Rs 35 billion involving PPP’s top leaders.

Published in Daily Times, July 21^st 2018.