LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition of PTI candidate Salman Akram Raja filed against declaring him an independent candidate by the returning officer (RO) of NA-128 and directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to redress his grievance in accordance with the law.

The counsel of ECP on a court query told that about 80 percent ballot papers have been published till now. On another query, he said only the symbol and the name of the candidate appeared on the ballot papers. Party names never appear on the ballot papers, he added.

He also contended that a person is considered as a candidate of a party who submitted a certificate issued by his party in his favour. He pleaded that any party without symbol could not participate in the election and added that the ECP had not issued a symbol to PTI as a party and the Supreme Court had also upheld the decision.

He also contended that the petitioner did not file an appeal to the ECP and directly filed the writ petition. He, therefore, asked the court to dismiss the petition for being not maintainable.

The counsel of the petitioner argued that his client belonged to the PTI and intended to contest the forthcoming elections as a candidate of the party. He said the petitioner also obtained a party certificate from the PTI for his nomination as a candidate from NA-128. He also stated that the petitioner was listed amongst the final list of the candidates issued by the PTI on its website.

He said if a party is eligible, its candidate will be considered a party candidate. He said the PTI has been registered as a political party with the ECP since 1996 and added the ECP cannot prevent any party from participating in elections. He also argued that the petitioner’s right to contest elections as a party candidate had not been terminated.

He, therefore, asked the court to declare that the petitioner was a candidate of the PTI and not an independent for the general elections scheduled on February 08. The court after hearing both the sides at length disposed of the petition and advised the petitioner to approach the ECP for redressal of his grievance.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024