LHC allows Ishaq Dar, Abdul Karim to contest Senate polls
LAHORE, (MILLAT ONLINE):An appellate tribunal of the Lahore
High Court (LHC) on Saturday allowed former finance minister Ishaq
Dar to contest Senate polls.
The tribunal comprising Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan passed
the orders while allowing an appeal filed by Ishaq Dar against
rejection of his nomination papers for the Senate polls.
As the proceedings began, Election Commission of Pakistan’s
Director Legal appeared before the tribunal in response to the
court notices and submitted record of the matter. He submitted
that the returning officer rejected the nomination papers of
Ishaq Dar after scrutiny. He further contended that returning
officer decision was based on facts and pleaded with the court
to dismiss the appeal.
However, Dar’s counsel submitted that the returning officer
failed to hold proper scrutiny of the nomination papers required
under the Representation of Peoples Act 1976.
He submitted that legal formalities had not been fulfilled
by the returning officer before passing the impugned decision.
He pleaded with the tribunal to set aside the returning officer
decision and accept his client’s nomination papers.
The tribunal, after hearing arguments of parties and
pursuing record, allowed Ishaq Dar to contest the polls while
setting aside the returning officer’s decision.
Meanwhile, the tribunal also allowed PML-N candidate
Hafiz Abdul Karim to contest the Senate polls while allowing
his appeal challenging returning officer’s decision.
Hafiz karim had challenged rejection of his nomination
papers saying that the returning officer did not fulfill the
legal formalities. He pleaded with the court to set aside the
returning officer decision and accept his papers for Senate
polls.