SC Sets Aside LHC Ruling, Confirms PML-N Candidates’ Victories

Case involves disputes from the February elections in constituencies NA-154 Lodhran, NA-81 Gujranwala, and NA-79 Gujranwala

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-August 12nd, 2024) The Supreme Court of Pakistan set aside a ruling by the Lahore High Court (LHC) and upheld the election victories of three Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidates.

A SC three-member bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, reached a 2-1 verdict. Justice Aqeel Abbasi and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan were the other members of the bench.

Justice Aqeel Abbasi wrote a dissenting note.

The case involved disputes from the February elections in Constituencies NA-154 Lodhran, NA-81 Gujranwala, and NA-79 Gujranwala.

The Supreme Court reinstated the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision affirming Abdul Rehman Kanju, Azhar Qayyum Nahra, and Zulfikar Ahmed as the winners.

Azhar Nahra had challenged the LHC’s decision to suspend his victory notification for NA-81. Originally, Chaudhry Bilal, an independent candidate backed by PTI, was declared the winner by 7,791 votes. However, following Nahra’s request for a recount, the ECP later declared Nahra the winner by 3,100 votes.

During the recount, around 10,000 of Nahra’s votes were invalidated.

Bilal contested the ECP's ruling in the LHC, which on April 4, nullified Nahra's victory notification for NA-81.

The court also ruled that the ECP could not entertain complaints about electoral disputes once election tribunals were in place.