NA-89 Jhang: SC reserves ruling on PML-N man’s plea

Sheikh Akram’s lawyer says no allegation of moral turpitude against his client

ISLAMABAD:

The apex court has reserved its judgment on the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Sheikh Muhammad Akram’s appeal against an election tribunal’s decision to declare Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) chief Ahmad Ludhyanvi as winning candidate from Jhang’s NA-89 constituency.

The apex court’s three-judge bench, headed by Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, on Tuesday took up Sheikh Akram’s plea against the tribunal’s verdict. The tribunal had declared Ludhyanvi the winner after declaring Sheikh Akram as disqualified for allegedly being a defaulter.

The tribunal had passed the order on Ludhyanvi’s petition. The ASWJ leader had alleged that Akram was not an eligible candidate as he did not fulfill the condition of being a ‘sadiq and ameen’ as per the Constitution.

On Tuesday, Advocate Tariq Mahmood appeared on behalf of Ludhyanvi and Advocate Makhdoom Ali Khan represented Sheikh Muhammad Akram before the bench.

Ludhyanvi’s counsel argued that the particulars of seconder and proposer of Akram were wrong from the day one. He said the PML-N legislator in his affidavit, submitted before the Returning Officer, had stated that there was no case pending against him.

On the other hand, Sheikh Akram’s lawyer contended that no allegations of moral turpitude were against his client and that the only accusation against him was that his seconder and proposer’s particulars were wrong. “These kinds of lapses can be corrected,” he said.

The top court has already suspended the tribunal’s decision in favour of ASWJ leader.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th,  2015.