LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday set aside a notification of PML-N candidate Azhar Qayum Nahra’s victory from NA-81, Gujranwala.

The court allowed the petition of PTI-backed independent candidate Chaudhry Bilal Ijaz.

The court also suspended the victory notification of PML-N’s Rana Arshad from NA-133, Nankana Sahib. The PTI-backed independent candidate Muhammad Atif had challenged the election of Rana Rashad.

The counsel of Chaudhry Bilal contended that his client was initially declared elected by 7791 votes. However, he said, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) conducted a recount on the request of the respondent and declared Nahra a returned candidate in the recount with a margin of 3100 votes. He said at least 10,000 votes of the petitioner were declared cancelled in the recount.

The counsel argued that the commission violated the law by allowing recount after the formation of election tribunals to hear the challenges to the election disputes.

The court allowing the petition observed how the ECP ignored the ruling of the Supreme Court.

The court also maintained that the election commission could not entertain complaints against election disputes after election tribunals start working. Earlier, the counsel of petitioner Muhammad Atif pleaded that he was initially declared returned candidate with a margin of over 3500 votes. However, he said, the ECP held a recount on an application of the respondent candidate and declared his victory by 2500 votes. He asked the court to set aside the recounting order of the ECP and the impugned notification of the respondent’s victory for being unlawful. The court after hearing the petitioner’s counsel at length suspended the notification and sought a reply from the ECP.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024