On Friday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) received significant relief from the highest court as three of its candidates, including the imprisoned party president Parvez Elahi, were granted permission to participate in the upcoming February 8 elections.
The Supreme Court approved appeals filed by PTI candidates Umer Aslam, Major (retd) Tahir Sadiq, and Elahi against the decisions of returning officers who had initially rejected their nomination papers from various constituencies.
Parvez Elahi, currently held in Adiala Jail, has been given the green light to contest the general election from the PP-32 constituency in Gujarat district. The former Punjab chief minister contested the Lahore High Court’s decision, which had upheld the Election Tribunal’s rejection of his nomination papers.
Elahi filed a petition under Article 185(3) of the Constitution on January 13, 2024, seeking leave to appeal against the LHC’s verdict. His nomination papers were previously rejected from National Assembly constituency NA-64 (Gujrat-III) and Punjab Assembly constituency PP-34 (Gujrat-VIII).
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A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, consisting of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Athar Minallah, heard Elahi’s plea with Advocate Faisal Siddiqui representing him. Siddiqui highlighted anomalies in objections raised by rival candidates and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), urging the court to allow Elahi to contest the upcoming elections in Gujarat promptly.
Justice Minallah emphasized the importance of not depriving voters of their right to vote and expressed concerns over obstacles to the election process. After considering the arguments, the apex court declared the rejection of Elahi’s nomination papers from PP-32 invalid and permitted him to contest the polls from the Gujarat provincial assembly seat.
Elahi withdrew appeals against the rejection of nomination papers from other constituencies, including two NA seats. Various objections were raised against Elahi’s nomination papers, alleging concealing of assets, non-disclosure of shares, non-compliance with banking rules, technical errors, and document submission without verification.
Initially arrested on June 1 last year in a corruption case related to the embezzlement of development funds, Elahi has faced multiple arrests since then, including cases of money laundering and alleged illegal appointments.
In addition to Elahi, PTI candidates Tahir Sadiq and Umer Aslam Awan were also granted permission by the apex court to contest elections from NA-49 (Attock) and NA-87 (Khushab) constituencies, respectively.
