LAHORE – The Supreme Court has ordered the recount of votes in three National Assembly constituencies, overturning a previous decision by the Lahore High Court and reinstating the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) ruling.
The decision came after appeals from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders, leading to recounts in NA-79 Gujranwala, NA-81 Gujranwala, and NA-154 Lodhran. The ruling was passed with a 2-1 majority, supported by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, while Justice Aqeel Abbasi opposed the decision.
The issue began when PML-N’s Azhar Nahra challenged the Lahore High Court’s suspension of his victory notification for NA-81. Initially, PTI-backed independent candidate Chaudhry Bilal was declared the winner by a margin of 7,791 votes in the 2024 general elections. However, after Nahra requested a recount, the ECP declared him the winner by a margin of 3,100 votes, with around 10,000 of Nahra’s votes being dismissed as invalid.
PTI then contested the ECP’s decision in the Lahore High Court, which annulled Nahra’s victory notification for NA-81 on April 4, ruling that the Election Commission could not handle election disputes once election tribunals were operational.