Plea against rejection of Cheema's nomination papers dismissed

LAHORE: A Lahore High Court (LHC) election tribunal on Friday dismissed petitions challenging the returning officer’s (RO) decision to reject PTI leader Jamshed Iqbal Cheema and his wife’s nomination papers for NA-133 (Lahore) by-poll scheduled for Dec 5.

The tribunal comprising LHC Justice Shahid Jameel dismissed the petitions after hearing arguments from the lawyers representing the petitioners, the PML-N  and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Also Read: ECP dismisses Jamshed Cheema’s allegations as ‘baseless’

Last week, the returning officer (RO) rejected the nomination papers of Jamshed Iqbal Cheema and his wife Musarrat (his covering candidate) on the ground that the proposers and seconders for the two are not residents of the constituency as required under the relevant election laws.

Cheema’s lawyer stated before the tribunal that the votes of the proposers and seconders were transferred from NA-133 to some other constituency.

Also Read: Nomination papers of PTI candidates rejected

“Where did the proposers and seconders cast their vote in the previous election?” the tribunal asked the counsel, to which the latter replied that their votes were registered in this constituency at that time, but it has now been bifurcated.

Speaking to the media, Cheema said he would challenge the tribunal’s decision in the LHC, hoping that they would get permission to contest the by-election.