LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday suspended the notification of success of PML-N Azhar Qayum from NA-81, Gujranwala and sought reply from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The court adjourned the hearing to be fixed by the office after the Eid holidays as the counsel of ECP sought time to submit his reply.

The court passed this order in a petition of Bilal Ejaz Chaudhry of Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) challenging the notification of Azhar's success.

Earlier, the petitioner’s counsel stated that his client won the election by a margin of 8,000 votes, but the election commission after recounting declared the respondent successful.

He said the returning officer reduced the petitioner's votes and declared his defeat with a margin of 2,500 votes.

The counsel asked the court to set aside the notification of the respondent’s success and declare the petitioner a returned candidate.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024