The Multan Bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) issued directives on Saturday instructing the returning officers (ROs) concerned to receive the nomination documents for the upcoming general elections from two Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidates.
Simultaneously, the police have been explicitly directed not to impede the electoral process for another candidate.
Abdul Majeed Khan Niazi, a former Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from Layyah, had approached the court, contesting the refusal of the returning officer to accept his nomination papers.
Senior Judge Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, presiding over the bench, ordered the RO to accept the nomination papers.
Rana Asif Saeed, the petitioner’s legal representative, argued that despite efforts to submit the nomination papers from Friday morning to evening, the RO had declined to receive them. According to Section 7 of the Election Act of 2017, a candidate can submit nomination papers through a designated representative.
Niazi, a PTI candidate from NA-181, contended that his nomination papers were being unjustly rejected. In a separate plea addressing the non-acceptance of PTI candidate Jam Younis advocate’s nomination papers for the Punjab Assembly constituency PP-268 in Muzaffargarh, Justice Dogar directed the RO to receive the papers.
Advocate Rana Asif Saeed, representing the petitioner, asserted that Younis had attempted to submit his nomination papers at the RO’s office, but they were refused.
Meanwhile, Nazia, the wife of former MNA Jamshed Dasti, filed a petition through Advocate Amir Khan Bhutta in the high court, alleging harassment by the police. In response, Justice Dogar explicitly instructed the police not to harass the applicant and her husband.
Nazia Jamshed is aspiring to contest the elections from NA-175 and NA-176.
