LAHORE, May 15: The nomination papers of PML-N chief Mian Nawaz Sharif and party president Mian Shahbaz Sharif were accepted here on Thursday for by-polls for NA-123 and PP-154 constituencies, respectively.
PML’s candidate Mian Ikhlaq Gudoo and Noor Elahi, aspirants for NA-123, had raised objections to Nawaz Sharif’s papers, stating he could not contest the election because of his conviction in the plane-hijacking case. He said Mr Sharif had also made derogatory remarks against the judiciary on several occasions.
Returning Officer Badruddin Chaudhry heard the matter and rejected the objections.
Mr Shahbaz Sharif’s rival Ambar Shahzada had objected to his nomination papers, stating he had defaulted on a bank loan as director of the Hudabiya Paper Mills.
Returning Officer said he did not find any substance in the allegation.
As the decision was announced jubilant PML-N workers started celebrating, chanting the slogan of ‘prime minister Nawaz Sharif’.
Mr Sharif’s counsel Ashtar Ausaf Ali said the former prime minister could not be disqualified on the basis of the hijacking case because former president Rafique Tarar had pardoned him. To the argument that his (Nawaz) conviction had attained finality in the absence of an appeal against the plane hijacking case, he said there was no need for filing an appeal after the pardon.
Mudassir Raja adds from Rawalpindi: The returning officers for NA-52, Rawalpindi-III, and PP-10, Rawalpindi-X, on Thursday rejected objections to the candidatures of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mian Shahbaz Sharif and accepted their nomination papers.
PML-Q’s Rawalpindi president Mohammad Nasir Raja who is also a candidate for the NA seat, had raised objections to the nomination papers of Nawaz Sharif.
Mr Raja alleged that Nawaz Sharif had been convicted in a plane hijacking. The second objection was that he had been a defaulter and had not correctly declared his assets. The third objection was that Nawaz Sharif had been maligning the superior judiciary in public.
Chaudhry Farooq Haider, the lawyer of Mr Raja, said he could produce a DVD containing the derogatory remarks made by Nawaz Sharif against judiciary. But the lawyer of the PML-N chief, Ashtar Ausaf, said that DVDs could not be produced as evidence.
Mr Ausaf said the petitioner had not submitted documentary evidences in support of his objections and the conviction against his client had been suspended.
Shahid Majeed Orakzai and Malik Mehboob Illahi had filed identical objections to the nomination papers of Shahbaz Sharif, alleging that the former chief minister had been found guilty of being involved in an attack on the Supreme Court in 1997. They submitted a police inquiry report and alleged that the attack had been arranged at the Punjab House in Islamabad and the payment to attackers made from the house of the Punjabs chief minister.
Shahbaz Sharif’ lawyer argued that Mr Orakzai was neither a voter nor a candidate from PP-10 constituency and even the national identity card he had submitted was in the name of Shah Majeed Orakzai showing a clear discrepancy. He said the petitioner had himself been convicted by the Supreme Court in a contempt case. He also showed a copy of the SC’s decision.
The defence lawyer said the document presented to establish the link of Shahbaz Sharif with the mob attack on the Supreme Court building was only an inquiry report and courts had not even issued a notice to Mr Sharif regarding the inquiry report.
The returning officer for NA-52 seat also accepted the nomination papers of Mohammad Nasir Raja, Captain (retd) Safdar Mehmood, Malik Tabarak Hussain and Malik Waheed Awan.
Those whose papers were accepted for the NA-55 seat were Supreme Court Bar Association president Aitzaz Ahsan, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Zafar Ali Shah, Raja Tariq Kiani, Ijaz Khan Jazzi, Amir Fida Paracha and former test cricketer Sarfaraz Nawaz.
Those whose nominations were accepted for the PP-10 seat include Malik Iftikhar, Haji Zafar Iqbal and Chaudhry Masood Akhtar.