ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court of Pakistan has allowed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Balochistan president Yar Muhammad Rind to contest the upcoming General Elections, overturning the Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) earlier decision.
In its ruling on Thursday, the apex court directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to issue an electoral symbol to the PTI candidate.
Rind’s plea was heard by a two-judge bench against the BHC’s decision to disqualify him on the grounds that he possessed a fake degree and had a murder case lodged against him.
During the hearing of the case, Rind’s lawyer told the court that he had intentionally written in the nomination papers that the PTI Balochistan president holds a Faculty of Arts (FA) degree.
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Claiming that Rind’s previous nomination papers stated that he held a Master’s degree, his counsel contended that he had made a conscious decision not to mention that.
Furthermore, the counsel denied the chief justice’s observation that there seems to be ‘some dishonesty’ behind the decision.
“I was not being dishonest when I hid the degree certificate,” he said and added that his client had been granted a bail in the murder case under question.
Impressed by the arguments, the apex court set aside BHC’s decision, paving way for Rind to step into the electoral race from NA-260 and PB-17 seats of the legislature.
