Acceptance of Shehbaz’s nomination papers challenged

Appeal filed in election tribunal alleges ex-PM was mastermind of attack on SC on Nov 25, 1997

LAHORE:

An appeal was filed on Tuesday in the election tribunal, challenging the acceptance of the nomination papers of former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif.

The appeal alleges that Shehbaz was "identified as the mastermind of an alleged criminal attack on the Supreme Court on November 28, 1997.”

The applicant, Shahid Orakzai, filed the appeal from NA-132, contending that Shehbaz was present on the day of the alleged attack at the Prime Minister's Secretariat along with his elder brother, Nawaz Sharif.

Orakzai further argued that Shehbaz's presence at the Prime Minister's Secretariat was reported to the Supreme Court on oath by the then advisor to the prime minister for information and broadcasting. The country's top court did not question him about the agenda of the meeting with the then-prime minister, it added.

The applicant informed the election tribunal that then chief minister, Shehbaz Sharif, spent the night at the PM’s house and was at the Punjab House for an event. He claimed that a secret breakfast for PML-N parliamentarians — gathered from the Rawalpindi division — was hosted by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the then Minister for Petroleum.

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According to Orakzai, a group of MNAs, MPAs, and senators was urgently summoned well past midnight on the orders of Shehbaz Sharif to secretly enter the court by exploiting their status and influence, as entry was restricted by the Chief Justice of Pakistan.

The applicant requested the election tribunal to take note of the secret political breakfast at the Punjab House which is not mentioned in the inquiry report of Islamabad Police. He pledged to identify the ringleaders of the alleged attackers.

Orakzai urged the tribunal to verify the stated facts from the inquiry report in possession of the registrar of the Supreme Court. He claimed that he had attempted to move the Election Commission of Pakistan on December 26, 2023, but was prevented from entering.

The applicant called on the election tribunal to reject Shehbaz Sharif's nomination papers and cancel the vote of the proposer and seconder for their alleged abetment of the attack on the Supreme Court before they cast their ballots on February 8.