LAHORE, July 18: A full bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted a petition of Punjab Law Minister Basharat Raja and directed the Lahore High Court to hear his point of view in a plea through which his election was called into question.

The minister contended in his petition that Aqeel Ali Shah had, through an election petition in the LHC, called his election into question and sought his disqualification on the plea that he (the minister) was not qualified to contest the general elections because he was then serving as an adviser to chief minister.

The Supreme Court bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Syed Tasaddaq Husain Jillani and Justice Karamat Nazir Bhindari, allowed the petition and directed the high court to provide the minister with a chance to defend himself in hearing of the petition.

In his petition, the minister submitted that the LHC election tribunal had not issued him the notice to explain his point of view.