Nawaz Sharif disqualified

A full bench of the Lahore High Court allowing two petitions has disqualified PML-N Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif from contesting election. However, the court has conditionally allowed PML-N President Mian Shahbaz Sharif to hold office of Chief Executive of the province.

Noor Elahi, a rival candidate of PML-N Chief Mian Nawaz from the constituency NA-123 Lahore and Syed Khurram Shah had challenged the candidature of Nawaz Sharif. The petitioners alleged that the PML-N Chief was convicted by the courts in different cases and also disqualified to contest the polls for 21 years. They requested the court to disqualify Nawaz Sharif to contest the polls.

The full bench comprising Justice Abdul Shakoor Paracha, Justice M. Bilal Khan and Justice Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi on Monday after hearing the arguments of the petitioners allowed both petitions and disqualified Nawaz Sharif to contest the polls.

On the other hand, Syed Khurram Shah, an ex-rival candidate of PML-N President Mian Shahbaz Sharif and Shahid Orakzai had also filed petitions seeking disqualification of Chief Minister Punjab. They had alleged that Shahbaz Sharif was a defaulter of various financial institutions and also committed contempt of the court by attacking on Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1998.

The petitioners had requested the court to declare PML-N President ineligible for polls and also set aside the earlier decisions of LHC’s Election Tribunal and Chief Election Commissioner regarding the permission to both the PML-N leaders to contest by-polls. They had also requested the Court to stop Shahbaz Sharif from working as CM Punjab.

The three-member same bench after hearing the arguments of the petitioners allowed Mian Shahbaz Sharif to hold the office of CM Punjab provisionally till the final decision of the petitions as both the petitions challenging his candidature will remain pending before the Election Tribunal of this court.

It is pertinent to mention here that earlier the concerned Returning Officers had allowed Nawaz, Shahbaz to contest the polls. The Election Tribunal of the LHC comprising Justice Mian Muhammad Najum-uz-Zaman and Justice Muhammad Tariq Shamim had given split decisions on the same petitions while the case was referred to the Chief Election Commissioner who reconstituted the ET comprising Justice Muhammad Akram Qureshi and Justice Hafiz Tariq Nasim while the ET had again given split decisions and the cases referred to the CEC who allowed both the leaders to contest the polls.

Meanwhile, Shahbaz Sharif elected unopposed from PP-48 Bhakkar and took oath as CM Punjab, however, the petitioners again filed the petitions before LHC and a three-member full bench comprising Justice Fazal-e-Miran Chouhan, Justice Hasnat Ahmad Khan and Justice Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon started hearing of the petitions.

During the hearing of the petitions Speaker Punjab Assembly and the Government of Punjab alongwith 13 other parties had filed applications to become parties in the case but the court dismissed all the applications and decided to proceed the case on ex-parte basis.

The full bench was again dissolved when some PML-N lawyers raised objections on a member of the bench who declined to hear the case so the new bench was reconstituted on Saturday last. The new bench comprising Justice Abdul Shakoor Parach, Justice M. Bilal Khan and Justice Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi on Monday after hearing of the petitioners and Deputy Attorney General for more than one hour announced the judgement after five hours.