<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court on Friday allowed incarcerated PTI President Parvez Elahi to contest the forthcoming general elections from PP-32 of Gujrat.<\/p>\n
A three-member bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Athar Minallah overturned the rejection of Elahi\u2019s nomination papers by the Lahore High Court (LHC) and the election tribunal.<\/p>\n
Elahi, who served as the Punjab chief minister, had filed his nomination for the Feb 8 general elections. However, his papers were rejected by the returning officers, a decision later affirmed by both the election tribunal and the LHC.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Elahi had approached<\/a> the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the LHC ruling that upheld the ROs\u2019 decision to reject his candidacy for the NA-64 and PP-32. He had filed two separate petitions in the apex court.<\/p>\n Today, Elahi\u2019s lawyer Faisal Siddique told Dawn.com<\/em> that they had decided to withdraw the petition for the NA seat.<\/p>\n \u201cWe decided to contest [the elections] on only one seat due to the shortness of time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n At the outset of today\u2019s hearing, Elahi\u2019s counsel Faisal Siddique contended before the court that ballot papers were currently being printed. He called on the court to let him present his arguments in the case. The court subsequently gave the parties till 11am to present their arguments.<\/p>\n When the hearing resumed, Justice Minallah highlighted that it was the court\u2019s responsibility to interpret the Election Act in a way that did not deprive the people from choosing a representative of their choice.<\/p>\n In his arguments, Siddique told the court that he had not yet received the complete order by the RO which rejected Elahi\u2019s nomination papers. He said that Elahi\u2019s papers were rejected on the basis that he failed to open separate bank accounts for campaigning in different constituencies.<\/p>\n \u201cElahi is contesting from five constituencies,\u201d he said. At this, Justice Minallah asked where the law said that separate accounts were required for the different constituencies.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there is an overspending during campaigning, the accounts are scrutinised after the polls are conducted,\u201d Siddique said. He said that police were present when the nomination papers had to be submitted.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother objection raised in the plea is that my client hid the ownership of a 10 marla<\/em> property in Punjab,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cMy client never purchased this plot. He was in jail at that time,\u201d he contended, adding that the purchasing date was from when Elahi was in jail.<\/p>\n Justice Mandokhail asserted that the reason behind asking about a person\u2019s assets was to compare what he owned before and after coming into power.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is fine if you are rejecting the ownership of the plot,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is not contesting the elections for the first time,\u201d Elahi\u2019s lawyer said. \u201cHe has remained chief minister of the province twice,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He further said that the deadline for declaring assets was June 30, 2024. \u201cSurprisingly, at the same time, the declared properties of Elahi, his wife Qaisra, and his son Moonis came to light,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Justice Mandokhail remarked that Elahi was a lucky man as new properties in his name had surfaced. \u201cYou should give these additional properties for charity purposes,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n At one point, Justice Minallah remarked that it seemed as if the caretaker government was involved in getting Elahi\u2019s nomination papers rejected. He said the RO\u2019s job was to facilitate election candidates instead of burdening them.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately all this is happening with only one political party,\u201d Justice Minallah said.<\/p>\n After hearing the arguments, the court declared the decision to reject Elahi\u2019s nomination papers null and void and allowed him to contest the elections from PP-32.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court also directed the authorities concerned to allot Elahi an election symbol and have it included in the ballot papers.<\/p>\n Separately, the apex court also allowed PTI leaders Umar Aslam, retired Major Tahir Sadiq, Sanam Javed and Shaukat Basra to contest the upcoming general elections.<\/p>\n Sadiq had submitted his nomination papers from NA-49 (Attock) but his candidature was rejected<\/a> by the returning officer (RO) after completion of the scrutiny process. Besides him, the papers of his wife Naz Tahir were also rejected on various grounds.<\/p>\n The PTI leader had approached<\/a> the Lahore High Court against the decision but faced a similar fate there as well. He had subsequently approached the SC.<\/p>\n Today, a three-member bench comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail accepted Tahir\u2019s petition and allowed him and his wife to participate in the polls.<\/p>\n Separately, the bench also allowed Aslam to contest elections. The PTI leader, representing the party from NA-87 (Khushab), was arrested<\/a> last month and his nomination papers were snatched.<\/p>\n During the hearing, Justice Shah remarked that there was no law which prevented a \u201cfugitive\u201d from exercising his fundamental right to participate in elections. Meanwhile, Justice Minallah said the ECP was answerable to the public and should let them decide \u201cwho is what\u201d.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, another SC bench comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Irfan Saadat Khan allowed Basra and Sanam to take part in the forthcoming polls.<\/p>\nHearing<\/h2>\n
Four other PTI leaders granted relief<\/h2>\n