SC clears PTI's Fawad Chaudhry to contest polls

Court stated that objections were not raised when nomination papers were accepted

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday dismissed a petition praying upon the court to disqualify Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry from contesting upcoming polls.

A two-member bench led by Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed Shaikh heard the petition filed by contesting candidate Gohar Haider. The court dismissed the petition stating that the objections were not raised at the time nomination papers were being accepted. “The petitioner filed the objections after acceptance of nomination papers," the judge remarked. “Instead of filing a new petition, you should have challenged the verdict in which the appeal was rejected.”



Appeals demanding disqualification of the PTI contestant were earlier dismissed by an election tribunal and Lahore High Court (LHC). On June 27,  the PTI spokesperson claimed that former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was behind the rejection of his nomination papers from NA-67 Jhelum-II constituency.

Reacting to the election tribunal’s decision sustaining an appeal against his candidature, Fawad said the “move is aimed to adversely affect my election campaign”. Following the rejection on June 27, the next day on June 28, the PTI leader was allowed to contest upcoming polls from NA-67 (Jhelum) following an LHC decision. The LHC ruled in favour of Fawad in an appeal filed against an appellate tribunal’s rejection of his nomination papers.