After rejecting appeals submitted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) contesting the acceptance of nomination papers for Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, and Maryam Nawaz, the election appellate tribunals in Lahore cleared the Sharif family to run in the forthcoming general elections on February 8.
Candidates who had their nomination papers rejected or accepted by the respective Returning Officers had their appeals heard by the 12-judge election tribunals of the Lahore High Court (LHC).
All three members of the Sharif family—Nawaz, Shehbaz, and Maryam—were involved in challenges to the nomination papers submitted by NA-130, NA-132, and NA-119, respectively.
Given Nawaz Sharif’s lifetime disqualification, the petitioner had raised concerns over the acceptance of his documents.
The appellant wanted to know if the electoral tribunal could accept the nomination papers of someone who has been permanently disqualified by Pakistan’s highest court. They asked a lot of questions to get their queries answered.
In addition to challenging the Returning Officer’s decision to accept Shehbaz Sharif’s nomination papers, the appellant claimed that Sharif was the suspected ringleader of the criminal attack on the Supreme Court on November 28, 1997.
The appellant further argued that Maryam Nawaz did not fulfill the requirements of being “Sadiq and Ameen” (truthful and trustworthy), thus challenging the Returning Officer’s decision to approve her nomination papers.
The tribunals, however, rejected the challenges to the nominations’ acceptance by the Returning Officers.
Dr. Yasmeen Rashid of the PTI from NA-130, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed of the PP-169, and other candidates from various seats were given a clean bill of health by a panel that overturned the decisions of the Returning Officer that had rejected their nomination papers.
Also, in cases involving NA-64, NA-69, PP-32, and PP-34, respectively, the tribunals confirmed the verdict of the Returning Officers against PTI leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, his wife Qaisara Elahi, and their son Moonis Elahi.
Imran Khan will not be able to run in the 2019 general elections after a tribunal confirmed the rejection of his nomination papers for Lahore’s NA-122 and Mianwali’s PS 89.
Since the candidate’s sponsor was not a resident of the constituency, the tribunal affirmed the RO’s ruling. Just like the RO’s objections, Imran’s appeal for NA-89 was dismissed by Judge Chaudhry Abdul Aziz.
Imran cannot run for office due to his conviction in the Toshakhana case, the tribunal said, stressing that the duration of a sentence is of no consequence until it is served.
