LAHORE, May 24: An election tribunal of the Lahore High Court on Saturday issued a notice to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif for Tuesday on an appeal against acceptance of his nomination papers for contesting the by-poll for NA-123.
“The learned counsel for the appellant (Mian Ikhlaq Gudu) contends that while accepting the nomination papers of respondent No. 1 (Nawaz Sharif), the Returning Officer of NA-123 has completely ignored the relevant facts,” the tribunal comprising Justice Hafiz Tariq Nasim and Justice Muhammad Akram Qureshi wrote in their order.
They also admitted the appeal for regular hearing and sought the record of the case, besides issuing a notice to the returning officer of NA-123.
Ordering service of the notice through courier, the tribunal directed a deputy attorney general to assist the tribunal.
Meanwhile, two election tribunals of the Lahore High Court are set to take up on Monday another election appeal against the acceptance of nomination papers of Nawaz and seven against the candidature of his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif.
Shahid Orakzai has challenged the nomination papers of the former premier from NA-52, Rawalpindi.
Other appellants have challenged the acceptance of nomination papers of Shahbaz for PP-154 and 141, Lahore, PP-124 Sialkot and PP-10 Rawalpindi. Shahid Orakzai, Syed Naeem Shahzad and Zulfiqar Ali Ghumman have filed the appeals.
They said Shahbaz Sharif had brought the judiciary into disrespect while addressing a press conference at the Sharif Medical Complex last month. They alleged that Shahbaz was also involved in the Supreme Court storming case.
They further contended the returning officers did not apply their mind correctly while rejecting their objections on the grounds that no documentary evidence was produced.
Two appeals have already been filed against Shahbaz Sharif by Nasir Raja contesting the by-poll from NA-52, Rawalpindi and Malik Mehboob Elahi, contesting elections from PP-10, also falling in Rawalpindi.
An election appeal against Mujtaba Shuja Rehman, former MPA and a PML-N candidate from PP 141, was filed before the election tribunal.
A voter of PP-70 filed an election appeal against Law Minsiter Rana Sanaullah against acceptance of his nomination papers from the constituency.
He said he had uttered derogatory remarks against the judiciary and stood disqualified under Article 63 (1) g of the Constitution.