LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday formed a three-member bench to hear petitions filed against the nomination of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Begum Kulsoom Nawaz for the NA-120 by-election after two previous benches were dissolved.
The three-member bench, headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan, will now start proceedings on the case next week. The other two members of the bench include Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi and Justice Shahid Jameel.
A three-member bench of the LHC constituted to hear the case was dissolved on Wednesday after Justice Shams Mahmood recused himself from hearing the case citing “personal reasons”. The petitions were then referred to the LHC chief justice for forming a new bench to hear the issue.
Last week, a bench formed on the same petitions also dissolved after its head, Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan, recused himself from the case for the same reasons.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Faisal Mir, Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s (PAT) Advocate Ishtiaq Ahmad Chaudhry and Milli Muslim League’s (MML) Nabeel Shahzad have challenged the acceptance of Kulsoom Nawaz’s nomination papers by the returning officer and an election tribunal.
The petitions state that neither the RO nor the tribunal looked into the details of the objections, including concealment of assets by the PML-N candidate. They alleged that the declaration by Kulsoom regarding her and her spouse’s assets were entirely false and misleading.
One of the petitioners also said that Kulsoom had concealed an FIR lodged on treason charges against her during the regime of former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf. He alleged that the PML-N’s candidate also concealed her assets and income in the nomination papers. He said the respondent candidate showed herself as a dependent of her spouse Nawaz Sharif, however, she was a shareholder in many companies.
He said that Kulsoom had also failed to disclose the agreement and salary for a UAE Iqama (work permit) attached with her nomination papers. Moreover, Kulsoom was also a defaulter of agriculture income tax and had concealed details of her Murree residence, he further claimed in his petition.
The petitioners have asked the court to set aside the decisions of the RO and the election tribunal and reject the nomination papers of Kulsoom Nawaz for the by-election.
