FAISALABAD, Nov 18: Opposition members of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry have held their ground against a 200 per cent increase in the election fee as the Lahore High Court has given a verdict in favour of its nominee.

The LHC had allowed on Nov 17 Sheikh Muhammad Hanif, a member of FCCI, to be nominated as a candidate without election fee. Earlier, the chamber body had disallowed him to contest the election without paying the fee.

Mr Hanif had filed a writ petition with the LHC and contended that the FCCI had enhanced the election fee without approval of the competent authority. He also contended that no such provisions were mentioned in the Trade Organization Ordinance (TO) 2006.

The court directed the chamber that the petitioner’s nomination papers be entertained without depositing Rs25,000. The court also summoned the FCCI president, secretary and TO director general for Dec 4.

The FCCI annual elections for 12 members each of corporate class and associate class are scheduled to be held on Nov 21 and Nov 22, respectively. As many as 997 voters of associate class and 466 of corporate class will take part in the electoral process.

Sources said the chamber management had increased the election fee from Rs5,000 to 25,000 without consulting members or the authorities. They said the fee issue was under adjudication with the TO director general, but the chamber management announced an increase that irked the opposition members.