Karachi/Lahore
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Faisal Vawda has been declared eligible to contest in the upcoming Senate polls; however the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Pervaiz Rashid was declared ineligible for being a defaulter to the tune of Rs9.5 million.
The decision in Vawda’s case was announced on Tuesday by the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) election tribunal hearing PPP candidate Qadir Khan Mandokhail’s appeal against approval of Vawda’s nomination papers for the March 3 Senate elections.
In his petition, Mandokhail maintained that the federal minister concealed the facts about his US citizenship. He observed that objection regarding this was also submitted before the returning officer, but he refused to listen to them.
federal minister’s disqualification is also being heard in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). However, no decision has been announced so far. Faisal Vawda’s nomination papers were accepted by the ECP on February 18. However, they were subsequently challenged.
On Feb 21, the SHC set up an election tribunal to hear petitions challenging the rejection and acceptance of nomination papers by the ECP for the Senate polls. On the other hand, the election appellate tribunal court of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday dismissed an appeal by former information minister Pervaiz Rashid against the rejection of his nomination papers for Senate elections by the returning officer.
Last week, Rashid challenged the impugned order at the Punjab Election Appellate Tribunal of the LHC, saying that he was ready to address the objections raised by the returning officer. One of the objections pertained to a purported demand raised by Comptroller Punjab House, Islamabad through a notice on January 17, 2019, for an amount of Rs6.9m and another notice for an amount of Rs2.65 million, making a total of over Rs9.5m.
