An election tribunal on Wednesday dismissed appeals of three candidates including two females on reserved seats challenging rejection of their nomination papers.
The tribunal comprising Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh of the Lahore High Court heard the appeals and upheld the decisions of returning officers (RO). PML-N candidate Mian Munir Ahmad had filed the appeal and contended that RO rejected his nomination papers for NA-125 for being not voter of the concerned constituency. The applicant's counsel argued that the decision of the RO was baseless and the same should be set aside. The tribunal after hearing his counsel at length dismissed the appeal.
The tribunal also rejected the nomination papers of two female candidates including Abida Raja and Nargis Faiz on reserved seats. The applicants said their papers were rejected on the basis that their approvers did not belong to the same constituencies.
Taking up the appeal of former education minister Syed Raza Ali Gillani against rejection of his nomination papers for PP-185, the Election Tribunal sought more arguments for Thursday (today). The RO had rejected his papers for concealing Mercedes Benz and income tax on agricultural land. However, his counsel said his client sold his car last year and had also transferred the same in the name of the buyer and paid income tax. Four appellate benches comprising Justice Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi, Justice Faisal Zaman, Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi and Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh heard around 15 appeals on Wednesday and issued notices to the respondents.