Federal govt not to challenge SC’s Elections Act verdict: report

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ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided not to contest the Supreme Court’s judgment on The Elections Act, according to a report by a private media outlet.

The federal government on March 22 filed a review petition through Additional Attorney General Waqar Rana, requesting the SC to set aside it’s February 21, judgment which disqualified former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from being head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

However, it was returned due to incomplete legal requirements on the same day. However, the SC registrar had given the federal government two weeks to file a modified review petition.

The government is expected to accept the advice and not challenge the SC’s verdict. The PML-N never filed a review petition against the verdict, meaning that the judgment on the disqualification of Sharif is essentially final.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and others had approached the Supreme Court to seek the disqualification of Sharif as party chief after the Panama verdict of July 28, 2017, wherein he was declared ineligible to hold public office under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution.

The court started hearing The Elections Act case on January 1. Dr Farogh Nasim, Sardar Latif Khosa, Babar Awan and others argued on behalf of the petitioners, while Salman Akram Raja contested the case for the PML-N. Additional Attorney General Waqar Rana also argued the case. Though Sharif was also party to the case, he did not engage any counsel to represent him in the matter.