The Supreme Court (SC) overturned on Monday the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) verdict declaring a recount of votes in three National Assembly constituencies, Aaj News reported.

A three-member bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa, announced the verdict regarding the vote recounts in the three constituencies: NA-154 Lodhran, NA-81 Gujranwala, and NA-79 Gujranwala.

Justice Aqeel Abbasi dissented with the decision.

The case arose after Azhar Qayum Nahra of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) challenged the LHC’s decision to suspend his victory notification from NA-81.

Initially, PTI-backed independent candidate Chaudhry Bilal was declared a winner by a margin of 7,791 votes in the general elections 2024.

However, after a recount requested by Nahra, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declared Nahra the returned candidate, with a margin of 3,100 votes. During the recount, at least 10,000 of Nahra’s votes were declared canceled.

Bilal then challenged the ECP’s decision in the Lahore High Court, which on April 4, set aside the notification of Azhar Qayum Nahra’s victory from NA-81.

The court also ruled that the election commission could not entertain complaints against election disputes once election tribunals begin their work.