LAHORE: An appellate tribunal of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday accepted the nomination papers of incarcerated PTI President Parvez Elahi and his absconding son Moonis Elahi for by-polls in two provincial assembly’s constituencies of Punjab.

The returning officers (ROs) had earlier rejected the papers of Mr Elahi from PP-32, Gujrat for not disclosing details of his assets and Mr Moonis from PP-158, Lahore for being an absconder in graft cases.

Both ROs appeared before the tribunal and also presented record of the matter.

A counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants said the decisions of the ROs were not based on facts. He argued the nomination papers of the former chief minister were accepted for the Feb 8 general election on the basis of the same documents atta­ched with the papers for the by-polls.

Justice Shahid Karim of the tribunal allowed the appeals and accep­ted the nomination papers for Par­vez Elahi and Moonis Elahi.

The tribunal also accepted the nomination papers of Fayaz Chattha from PP-36, Wazirabad, setting aside the RO decision.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2024