ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Supreme Court on Monday annulled the decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and declared the three PML-N candidates successful.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, announced the decision of votes recounting by 2-1. Justice Aqeel Abbasi did not agree with the CJP and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.
It should be noted that objections were raised in NA-154 Lodhran, NA-81 Gujranwala and NA-79 Gujranwala in February elections.
The court restored the decision of the ECP regarding success of Abdul Rehman Kanju, Azhar Qayyum Nahra and Zulfikar Ahmed.
Azhar Nahra had challenged the LHC’s decision to suspend his victory notification from NA-81.
Initially, PTI-backed independent candidate Chaudhry Bilal was declared a winner by a margin of 7,791 votes in the February general election. However, after a recount requested by Nahra, the ECP had declared Nahra the returned candidate by a margin of 3,100 votes.
During the recount, at least 10,000 of Nahra’s votes were declared cancelled.
Bilal challenged the ECP’s decision in the LHC which on April 4 set aside the notification of Azhar Nahra’s victory from NA-81.
The court had also ruled that the ECP could not entertain complaints against election disputes once election tribunals begin their work.