LAHORE, Sept 11: The Lahore High Court election tribunal adjourned on Wednesday hearing of appeals challenging the candidature of PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif and Begum Kulsoom Nawaz till Thursday (today) after their counsel sought time for producing the attested relevant documents.
The tribunal, comprising Justice Najamuz Zaman and Justice Pervez Ahmad, adjourned the hearing of appeals against Shahbaz Sharif and Begum Kulsoom Nawaz on the request of their counsel, Ashtar Ausaf Ali.
The counsel said he would be able to submit the authority letter, issued to his clients, after attestation by the Pakistani consulate-general in Jeddah on Thursday.
The appeals have been filed by Khwaja Farooq and Kamal Baraqullah, raising an objection that the nomination papers of Shahbaz Sharif and Begum Kulsoom have not been attested by the consulate in Jeddah.
The election tribunal disallowed PML-QA leader Chaudhry Akhtar Rasool’s appeal against the rejection of his nomination papers for the National Assembly seat NA-119.
The tribunal turned down the appeal of Chaudhry Rasool, while upholding the earlier decision by the returning officer, who had rejected the appellant’s papers because of his conviction in the Supreme Court assault case.
His counsel contended that no criminal proceedings were pending against him and, therefore, he was fully qualified to contest the elections.
It was argued by the defence counsel that Chaudhry Rasool had been a national player of international repute and had never been shown a red card during his career as a hockey player which spoke highly of his disciplined life.
To a query from the tribunal, the counsel acknowledged that Chaudhry Rasool had been convicted in the Supreme Court assault case and a review petition was still pending for adjudication.
The tribunal observed that the appellant was still a convict unless cleared in the review petition. “Election process is meant for bringing clean people and not the convicts since it’s a matter of representation of 140 million people in the legislature,” the tribunal remarked.
It observed that it was a shocking experience for the supreme judiciary when an MPA representing the people of the country had organized the assault on it, making the judges take refuge in their retiring rooms.
