June 13, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 08, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 12: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Lahore High Court to decide in two days a challenge to Election Commission’s announcement of declaring PML-N leaders Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif qualified to contest by-elections, a decision which led Shahbaz Sharif to become Punjab’s new chief minister.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Moosa K. Leghari that had taken up the petition of Syed Khurram Shah seeking suspension of the Election Commission’s notification of declaring Shahbaz Sharif a successful candidate asked the high court to form a three-member bench and decide the matter in two days.

“I am happy with the decision as it suits me,” petitioner’s counsel Ahmad Raza Kasuri told Dawn.

The LHC is seized with two separate petitions, one by Khurram Shah, a voter who has challenged the candidature of Shahbaz Sharif from PP-48, Bhakkar, and Noor Elahi, an independent candidate from NA-123, who has filed the petition against Nawaz Sharif.

These petitions were filed after an Election Tribunal handed down a split verdict on appeals challenging the candidature of the Sharif brothers.

Justice Hafiz Tariq Nasim allowed the Sharifs to contest June 26 by-polls while Justice Mohammad Akram Qureshi held them ineligible.

The split verdict left no choice for the Election Commission but to uphold returning officer’s acceptance of Shabaz Sharif’s nomination from Bhakkar as being in order.

Meanwhile, the federal and the Punjab governments have requested the apex court to let the high court decide the matter first.

One June 9, Punjab Assembly Speaker Rana Iqbal and the Punjab government requested the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition after hearing provincial government’s view for being false and frivolous constituting abuse of the process of the apex court.

In his application, the speaker had said that the matter of qualification and disqualification was primarily an issue concerning procedure of the Punjab assembly in terms of Article 69(2) read with Article 127 of the Constitution.

Besides, the apex court has consistently held that proceedings of a house and qualifications or disqualifications are absolutely an internal matter which parliament in its own wisdom decides to delegate to an election tribunal in terms of Article 225 of the Constitution.

On Thursday, Ahmed Raza Kasuri argued before the apex court that moving of applications were reflective of the fact that the Punjab government and the speaker provincial assembly had accepted constitutionality and legality of the present judges of the apex court.

The petitioner had sought suspension of the election commission’s notification of declaring Shahbaz Sharif as a successful candidate who had become the leader of the house of the provincial assembly.

He also contended that the operation of the order of the returning officer and the notification of the Election Commission of declaring Shahbaz Sharif as a successful candidate be kept in abeyance and the respondent (Mr Sharif) be restrained from taking oath as member of the Punjab assembly or from participating in the proceedings of the provincial assembly in any manner.