RAWALPINDI: An election tribunal consisting of Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday accepted the nomination papers of former federal minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and others.

The tribunal also admitted the appeal of former prime minister Imran Khan against the rejection of his nomination papers and issued a notice to the returning officer. It allowed Sheikh Rashid Ahmed to contest elections from NA-56 and NA-57, Rawalpindi.

The same tribunal is scheduled to hear the appeals of former minister Fawad Chaudhry on Jan 5 against the rejection of his papers from two constituencies of Jehlum. The appeals of PTI leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi will be heard on Jan 6 for NA-59 Chakwal and Punjab Assembly’s constituency PP-23.

Justice Aziz also accepted the nomination papers of Ijazul Haq, Sibtain Khan (NA-88), Azam Khan Niazi (NA-90), Eman Waseem, Naz Tahir (NA-50), Raja Rashid Hafeez (NA-56), Ali Nasir Bhatti (NA-58), Babar Sultan Jadoon (NA-55), Ziad Khaleeq Kiani (NA-55), retired major Tahir Sadiq (NA-49 and NA-50), and Ahmed Aziz Bhatti (PP-09).

The court issued notices to the Election Commission of Pakistan on appeals of ex-provincial minister Raja Basharat, retired colonel Ajmal Sabir, and Hassan Tariq.

Hearing on Fawad’s appeal today,Elahi’s on 6th

The tribunal dismissed the appeals of former minister Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain, Anam Zahid, and Iraj Shahnawaz by maintaining the objections of the ROs.

In Islamabad, the tribunal comprising Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir issued notices to the ECP on 51 appeals against the rejection of nomination papers, including the appeals of PTI candidates Amir Mughal, Ilyas Meharban, and Jamat-e-Islami’s Zubair Farooq and sought reply till Friday.

The counsels of Mughal and Meharban argued that the candidates were nominated in separate First Information Reports (FIRs) and were at large. The counsels said that when they surrendered before the competent forum, they learnt that they were also wanted in some other cases, owing to this fact, the RO rejected the nomination papers.

The court also issued notice on the appeal of transgender Almas Bobi who challenged the acceptance of the nomination papers of transgender candidate Nayyab Ali.

The appeal stated that Ms Ali did not mention her sex in the computerised national identity card (CNIC); hence, she concealed the identity. The appellant also stated that Ms Ali concealed assets as well. Justice Tahir also issued notice to Nayyab and sought a reply by Monday.

Meanwhile, the Tribunal expunged the observation of the Returning Officer against a candidate Ishtiaq Meharban. Meharban had challenged the observation that he was not ‘sagacious and honest’.

The counsel said his client decided to withdraw himself from the contest, therefore, the adverse observation may be deleted. The appeal was accepted and the remarks were expunged.

Meanwhile, in Taxila, an appellate tribunal granted PML-N local leader Ali Asghar Awan permission to contest the election from PP-13 (Wah Cantonment) and declared the returning officer’s (RO) verdict null and void.

In a separate development, the Istehkam Pakistan Party (IPP) on Thursday announced seat adjustment with the PML-N in a provincial assembly constituency of Attock. It is the first seat adjustment in this region by the two political parties.

Former provincial minister Mohammad Anwar was announced as a joint candidate of the two parties from PP-04 (Attock-IV).

Our Correspondent in Taxila also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, January 5th, 2024