LAHORE: The appellate tribunals of the Lahore high Court continued working on Sunday and accepted the nomination papers of former governor Mian Azhar and his son former federal minister Hammad Azhar from PP-171, however, upheld a decision by NA-129 returning officer (RO) of rejecting the candidature of the latter.

The tribunal comprising Justice Tariq Nadeem allowed the appeals of the father and son duo after their proposers and seconders appeared before it.

The RO of PP-171 had rejected their nomination papers as the proposers and seconders failed to join the scrutiny process.

The tribunal, however, upheld the rejection of Hammad Azhar’s candidature for NA-129.

The appellate tribunal allowed an appeal of former provincial minister Mian Aslam Iqbal and accepted his nomination papers from PP-171, Lahore.

Rejection of Hammad’s candidature for NA-129 upheld; verdict on Imran’s plea reserved

The RO had rejected the nomination papers of the PTI leader on the failure of his proposer and seconder to join the scrutiny process.

Another appellate tribunal dismissed an appeal challenging the acceptance of nomination papers of PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz from NA-119, Lahore.

Nadeem Sherwani, a PTI ticket aspirant from the same constituency, filed the appeal.

An appellate tribunal comprising Justice Rasaal Hassan Syed dismissed appeals of PTI social media activist Sanam Javed against rejection of her nomination papers from NA-119 and PP-150.

The returning officers had rejected the nomination papers of the jailed activist on non-appearance of her proposers and seconders for scrutiny.

The tribunal upheld the decisions of the ROs and dismissed the appeals.

Ms Javed is behind bars and facing trials in multiple cases of May 9 riots.

A tribunal allowed an appeal of Saleem Mehar, a PTI ticket aspirant from Kasur, and accepted his nomination papers from NA-132 and PP-171.

A tribunal reserved its verdict on the appeals of PTI’s former leaders Jamshed Iqbal Cheema and his wife Musarrat Jamshed Cheema against rejection of their nomination papers from NA-121, Lahore.

IMRAN KHAN: An appellate tribunal at Rawalpindi seat of the LHC reserved its verdict on an appeal of PTI founding chairman Imran Khan against rejection of his nomination papers from NA-89 of Mianwali.

Earlier, Senator Barrister Syed Ali Zafar completed his arguments on behalf of the former prime minister.

He said the RO, in the impugned decision, unlawfully relied on a decision by an Islamabad sessions court regarding the conviction of the appellant in Toshakhana case filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Asked as if the appellant had disclosed the gifts of Toshakhana, the lawyer said he was not discussing the merits of the Toshakhana case. He argued that the disqualification under Article 63 (1) (h) of the Constitution does not stand after the suspension of the sentence.

He pointed out that the sentence of the appellant in the Toshakhana case had been suspended by the Islamabad High Court.

The tribunal comprising Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz would announce the verdict on Jan 10, the last day of deciding appeals against the decisions of the returning officers.

Hearing of an appeal against the rejection of Imran Khan’s nomination papers from NA-122, Lahore, could not be held before an appellate tribunal at the principal seat due to paucity of time.

The tribunal is likely to hear the appeal on Monday (today).

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2024