LAHORE – The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday nullified the decision of an Election Commission of Pakistan’s appellate tribunal to disqualify former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for life and bar him from contesting polls from his home constituency, NA-57 (Murree).
A two-member bench, comprising Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem issued the ruling on the petition against the tribunal’s verdict.
The tribunal in its disqualification verdict had said that Abbasi concealed the facts violating Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution and rejected his nomination papers. The tribunal announced the verdict on a petition filed by Masood Ahmed Abbasi.
Later, Abbasi moved the high court which allowed the former premier to contest General Election 2018 from NA-57 on an interim basis. He is also contesting elections from NA-53 where he will face Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Abbasi’s counsel questioned the appellate tribunal verdict saying that his client declared all assets but the tribunal not only rejected his nomination papers but also disqualified him. He submitted that the tribunal did not have any authority to disqualify any candidate permanently.
The bench asked Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to avoid passing statements against the judiciary observing that the judiciary did not have any agenda.
“Being a former premier, you (Abbasi) should save and rectify the system”, the court remarked during the proceedings.
Meanwhile, the high court has also allowed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry to contest election by dismissing the verdict of the appellate tribunal.
