Elahi moves SC against papers rejection

PTI leader and former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi have approached the Supreme Court against the rejection of his nomination papers for the upcoming general elections, contending that the objections raised to his candidacy are not maintainable.

Elahi, currently detained at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, submitted his nomination papers at three National Assembly—NA-59, NA-64, and NA-69—and four Punjab Assembly—PP-23, PP-34, PP-32, and PP-42—constituencies. However, various returning officers (ROs) rejected his papers.

He challenged the ROs' decision at an election tribunal, which upheld the ROs’ verdict. Later, Elahi moved the Lahore High Court (LHC), whose three-member bench on January 13 upheld the tribunal order.

The PTI central president has now filed an appeal against the LHC verdict in the Supreme Court, naming the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and the election tribunal as respondents. He has requested the SC to declare the LHC decision null and void.

One objection to his candidacy, he noted, is that he has shares in Lahore Modern Flour Mills. This allegation is baseless as no bank account has been opened in the name of the mills.

He said he never purchased shares in this inactive flour mill, which cannot be described as an asset. Based on the ownership of this flour mill, he cannot be prevented from participating in the election.

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Elahi argued that it is an established principle that a candidate cannot be disqualified based on the omission to mention one of his assets, and in such cases, the intention of the accused must be taken into consideration.

He said the total value of the shares associated with mills amounts to Rs24,850, adding that he has declared his total assets worth over Rs175 million, including cash exceeding Rs57 million. Not disclosing such ordinary shares cannot be considered dishonest.

He said an objection was also raised about his not declaring the licenses of seven firearms. The petitioner noted that there is no column in the nomination papers for declaring weapon licenses.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the appeal of a JUI's candidate, Abdul Hafeez Loni, as it upheld the verdict of an election tribunal. Loni had filed nomination papers from NA-252, but an election tribunal rejected his papers.

The Balochistan High Court later upheld the tribunal’s verdict, and Loni moved the SC, whose three-member bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJ) Qazi Faez Isa maintained the tribunal’s order.

WITH INPUT FROM APP