The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate Fawad Chaudhry and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Saira Afzal Tarar to contest upcoming general elections 2018. A two-member judge bench comprising Justice Azmat Saeed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the appeals against the Lahore High Court decision.
PML-N candidate Saira Afzal is contesting election from NA-87, Hafizabad. Shaukat Ali Bhatti has sought former federal health minister Saira Afzal Tarar's disqualification. Shaukat Ali's counsel contended that the PML-N leader concealed information in her nomination papers. Saira Afzal did not mention two bank accounts in her nomination papers, he added. Justice Azmat said if there is big amount in the accounts then she could benefit from it. The lawyer replied that he does not have details how much is in Saira's accounts. The counsel also argued that Saira had stated more land than actually she owned. Justice Ijazul Ahsan remarked if she had given less details of land then there was an issue.
The same bench also dismissed appeal against Fawad Chaudhry, who is contesting general election from NA-67, Jhelum-II. Gohar Haider's lawyer informed the court that Fawad misstated his occupation and earning. According to the income tax returns, he is a salaried class person. Justice Azmat said the objections were not raised at the time nomination papers were being accepted. "The petitioner filed the objections after acceptance of nomination papers," the judge remarked. "Instead of filing a new petition, you should have challenged the verdict in which the appeal was rejected," he further said.