News Analysis |
Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday has approved nomination papers of former Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and PTI’s central information secretary Fawad Chaudhary for NA-57, Rawalpindi-I, and NA-67- Jhelum-II, respectively.
Justice Muzahir Ali Akbar headed the two-member bench which conducted the hearing of the case. The court dismissed the decision of appellate tribunal and allowed the two big-wigs from PML-N and PTI to contest the elections.
LHC had told the former premier that “governments change with time but the courts continue to work in accordance with law of the land. Being a judge is not easy and you and should refrain from issuing statements against judiciary”.
Abbasi is also contesting from NA-53 against PTI’s chairman Imran Khan. While Fawad is also contesting on a provincial seat and considers himself a strong candidate for Punjab Chief Minister’s slot if PTI manages to win the upcoming polls.
“You will not be appearing before an Australian government after the elections and you may have to come to these courts, if not elected next time,’ Judge added
Earlier, both the leaders were briefly suspended after the appellate tribunal’s decision which declared that they are not eligible to become a member of the Parliament under Article 62 (1) (F) of the Constitution for not being Sadiq and Ameen.
Read more: Appellate Tribunal allows Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to contest polls
Abbasi and Fawad challenged the verdict. Abbasi denied that he was concealing facts and withholding information from voters in his nomination forms submitted for NA-57. Abbasi was accused of incorrectly valuing his F-7/2 house in Islamabad as Rs0.3 million. Moreover, he obtained the loan of Rs 25 million but never declared his house in his nomination papers.
Justice Muzahir Ali Akbar headed the two-member bench which conducted the hearing of the case. The court dismissed the decision of appellate tribunal and allowed the two big-wigs from PML-N and PTI to contest the elections.
Abbasi rejected the verdict and said his father had bought the house for this amount in 1974 and he only mentioned the same purchase price in the nomination papers.
Similarly, Fawad denied the allegations that he failed to provide the details of his foreign expenses worth Rs 3.2 million in his nomination papers. Moreover, he was accused of not declaring the source of his 2017 income which amounted to Rs 9,600,000 according to his income tax returns that he had filed along with his nomination papers.
Read more: Abbasi back in action: LHC clears him to contest elections from…
He challenged the verdict saying that a verified copy issued by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was also attached with the nomination papers but tribunal declared him disqualified while ignoring the attached documents. Last week, LHC had allowed Abbasi and Fawad to contest from their home constituencies of Murree and Jhelum and today’s decision paved way for two bigwigs to continue their campaigns in their respective constituencies.
Abbasi is also contesting from NA-53 against PTI’s chairman Imran Khan. While Fawad is also contesting on a provincial seat and considers himself a strong candidate for Punjab Chief Minister’s slot if PTI manages to win the upcoming polls.