LHC annuls election tribunal’s disqualification verdict against ex-PM Abbasi

Two days after an election tribunal disqualified former Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi from Murree's NA-57, Lahore High Court (LHC) annulled the verdict on Friday and granted him the permission to contest general elections from same constituency.

The election tribunal’s decision of disqualifying the former PM was dismissed by a two-member bench headed by Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi, local media reported. Abbasi is now qualified to contest the general elections from Murree.

Abbasi had moved the LHC on Thursday, against the election tribunal’s decision that disqualified him under Article 62(i) (f) of the Constitution for ‘concealing facts and withholding information from his voters’ in his nomination papers.

The detailed verdict against Abbasi's disqualification also declared that the ex-PM was not ‘Sadiq’ and ‘Amin’ (honest and truthful).

In his petition, Abbasi said that the election tribunal does not have the authority to disqualify a person for lifetime. He added that the election tribunal only has the jurisdiction to either accept or reject a Returning Officer’s decision in accepting or rejecting any nomination papers.