A three-member bench, led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and including Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Athar Minallah, has overturned the rejection of Parvez Elahi’s nomination papers by the Lahore High Court (LHC) and the election tribunal. Parvez Elahi, a former Punjab chief minister and member of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), had filed his nomination for the February 8 general elections, but his papers were initially rejected by returning officers, a decision upheld by both the election tribunal and the LHC.
On Wednesday, Elahi approached the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the LHC ruling that upheld the ROs’ decision to reject his candidacy for NA-64 and PP-32. During today’s hearing, Elahi’s lawyer, Faisal Siddique, informed the court that they had decided to withdraw the petition for the NA seat due to time constraints. The court allowed the parties until 11 am to present their arguments.
Siddique argued that Elahi’s papers were rejected because he failed to open separate bank accounts for campaigning in different constituencies, a requirement not explicitly stated in the law. Another objection raised was the alleged concealment of a property ownership, to which Elahi’s lawyer clarified that the property was acquired while Elahi was in jail. The court declared the decision to reject Elahi’s nomination papers null and void, allowing him to contest the elections from PP-32 and directing authorities to allot him an election symbol.
In a separate case, the Supreme Court also granted relief to PTI leaders Umar Aslam, retired Major Tahir Sadiq, Sanam Javed, and Shaukat Basra, allowing them to contest the upcoming general elections. The bench emphasized the fundamental right to participate in elections and criticized arbitrary disqualifications based on technicalities such as opening separate bank accounts or a slight delay in submitting nomination papers.