LAHORE: A Lahore High Court (LHC) full bench on Friday reserved verdicts on the petitions of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, party’s former leader Fawad Chaudhry and social media activist Sanam Javed against the rejection of their nomination papers for the Feb 8 elections.

During the hearing of Mr Qureshi’s petition, his counsel Abuzar Salman Niazi argued that all legal requirements were fulfilled to submit the nomination papers to contest election from NA-150, NA-151 and PP-218 of Multan.

He told the bench that Mr Qureshi was detained in Adiala Jail.

He argued that it was not necessary for a candidate to personally appear before the returning officer (RO) to submit his nomination papers. He said objections should not arise when the petitioner’s lawyer was present before the RO to verify his signatures.

The bench observed that the rules allowed the RO to seek personal appearance of a candidate for his satisfaction.

The counsel argued that to contest election was a fundamental right of every citizen, which could not be usurped through legal technicalities. He asked the bench to set aside the decisions of the ROs and an appellate tribunal and accept the nomination papers of the petitioner from all constituencies.

A lawyer for the election commission said the petitioner was a high-profile personality and was arrested for involvement in the May 9 riots. He said according to jail rules, permission was not granted without the authority’s approval. He said there was no record of the oath commissioner’s meeting with Mr Qureshi in jail, therefore, verification of the petitioner’s affidavit and signatures had not been done.

The bench, headed by Justice Ali Baqar Najafi, reserved its verdict on the petition.

Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan and Justice Jawad Hassan are other members of the bench.

The bench reserved verdict on a petition of Fawad Chaudhry against the rejection of his nomination papers from NA-60 and NA-61 of Jhelum.

The full bench also reserved its decision on the petition of Sanam Javed challenging rejection of her nomination papers from NA-119 and PP-150 of Lahore.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2024