Sanam Javed allowed by SC to contest elections

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Friday allowed five candidates of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), including incarcerated activist Sanam Javed, to contest the upcoming general elections, slated for Feb 8, 2024, ARY News reported.

Besides Sanam Javed, the top court approved appeals of PTI candidates Umer Aslam, Major (retd) Tahir Sadiq, and Shaukat Mahmood Basra against returning officers’ (ROs) decisions to reject their nomination papers from different constituencies.

A division bench comprising Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar overturned the rejection of PTI leaders’ nomination papers by the Lahore High Court (LHC) and the election tribunal.

The apex court directed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to publish and print the names of the PTI’s allowed candidates in the ballot boxes.

Sanam Javed has been allowed to contest polls from NA-119, NA-120, and PP-125 while Basra got permission to contest from NA-163 (Bahawalnagar).

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also allowed incarcerated party president Pervaiz Elahi to contest the upcoming February 8 elections.

A three-member SC bench headed by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah allowed the PTI leader to contest the general election from the PP-32 constituency of Gujarat district.

Elahi had filed a petition in the Supreme Court to seek permission to contest the general election. He made the election commission and appellate tribunal as respondents.

He pleaded to the apex court to declare January 13, 2024, decision of the Lahore High Court as void.

The high court had dismissed his appeal regarding the rejection of his nomination papers by the returning officer. He contested this decision in the election appellate tribunal, where his appeal was also dismissed.