ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court cut short on Tuesday Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi’s victory celebrations as it suspended an election tribunal’s decision notifying him as the successful National Assembly candidate from NA-89 Jhang.

The chief of the proscribed Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) had challenged the eligibility of Sheikh Mohammad Akram, who had won the seat in the 2013 general elections, before an election tribunal. The tribunal found against Akram on April 9 and on April 18, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declared Ludhianvi, the candidate with the second highest number of votes, successful without going for re-polling.

On Tuesday, after a preliminary hearing, a three-judge bench headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali suspended both the April 9 judgment of the election tribunal and the subsequent ECP notification. “We are inclined to issue notices to the respondents for a date to be fixed by the office within four weeks,” the bench observed.

The court gave the interim order on a petition filed by Sheikh Muhammad Akram, who had won the seat on a PML-N ticket. He contested the polls because his son Sheikh Waqas Akram – who was originally supposed to vie for the National Assembly seat — was beset by legal challenges from his opponents.

In his complaint before the tribunal, Ludhianvi alleged that Sheikh Akram had been involved in electoral rigging and other illegal practices.

Appearing before the apex court on Tuesday, Akram’s counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan argued that the tribunal had disqualified his client on two grounds: firstly that the CNIC number of the individuals who seconded Sheikh Akram’s nomination was incorrect; and, secondly that he had failed to disclose in his nomination papers an FIR that was filed against him.

Both these grounds, the counsel argued, were based on a misreading of the record and the relevant legal provisions, adding that there had been no violation of election rules to justify the tribunal’s decision to unseat Sheikh Muhammad Akram.

The NA-89 Jhang constituency has long been a hotbed of sectarian strife. Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) founder Haq Nawaz Jhangvi won the seat in the 1998 general elections.

In 2002, Maulana Azam Tariq of the SSP successfully ran for election while he was incarcerated, beating Sheikh Waqas and Dr Tahirul Qadri in the polls.

Following Tariq’s assassination in 2003, Sheikh Waqas Akram took the seat in the ensuing by-elections, beating the slain SSP chief’s brother Maulana Alam Tariq.

In the 2008 general elections, Ludhianvi campaigned as an independent against Sheikh Waqas Akram, who contested on a PML-Q ticket. Sheikh Waqas won the election with 51,976 votes while Ludhianvi came in second with 45,216 votes.