ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court dismissed on Monday an appeal against the acceptance of nomination papers of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Kulsoom Nawaz for the NA-120 by-election.
The petition was filed by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate for NA-120, Faisal Mir, who lost the September 17 by-poll to the PML-N candidate.
Hearing the petition, the three-judge bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, observed that the petitioner did not provide sufficient details.
Justice Gulzar observed that the petitioner has levelled accusations but did not provide proof.
There were alternative forums for remedy available to the petitioner, such as the election tribunal, remarked Justice Maqbool Baqar, while addressing Mir’s counsel.
Justice Qazi Faiz Esa observed that the matter relates to the democratic process so it cannot be taken lightly and that the mandate of the people needs to be respected.
The case cannot be taken forward without presentation of facts, Justice Gulzar further observed.
Mir, along with the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), had challenged in the apex court the dismissal of their petition by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on September 13 wherein they had challenged Kulsoom’s candidature.
Three identical petitions challenging her candidature had been filed in LHC by PPP, PAT and Milli Muslim League against the decisions of the NA-120 returning officer and the election tribunal which had rejected objections against her nomination papers.
PAT had already withdrawn its appeal against the LHC decision.
Kulsoom won NA-120 by-polls after defeating the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf candidate by a margin of around 14,000 votes, according to unofficial results.