The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday allowed former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to contest from his home constituency of NA-57, Murree.
A two-member bench headed by Justice Mazahir Ali Naqvi accepted Abbasi’s appeal against the appellate tribunal’s decision of rejecting his nomination papers and disqualifying him for life. The divisional bench of the LHC dismissed the tribunal’s order against Abbasi.
On Thursday, the appellate tribunal had found Abbasi guilty of ‘concealing facts and withholding information from voters’ in his nomination forms submitted for the constituency. The written verdict said that Abbasi did not meet the requirements under Article 62(1)(f) of the constitution of Pakistan. The former prime minister, in a statement to the media, had vowed to challenge the verdict.
Meanwhile, a contempt petition against former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was accepted for hearing on Friday. Justice Tariq Mehmood Abbasi of the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench will take up the case on Tuesday.
The plea has been filed against the PML-N leader by Malik Riaz Anjum.
Separately, a three-member bench of the LHC has summoned former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to appear in the court on Friday over a petition seeking registration of treason case against them.
The bench headed by Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi issued the written order, directing both the parties to clear their position on the matter.
The petition was filed by Advocate Azhar Siddique saying that Nawaz Sharif’s interview to a private media outlet falls in the ambit of treason and had caused damage to the national integrity, while Abbasi disclosed the proceedings of a very important meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) to Nawaz Sharif.
The petitioner prayed the court to take action against bother the former prime ministers.
Published in Daily Times, June 30th 2018.
