Murad Saeed out of election race

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday disposed of the writ filed against the rejection of the nomination papers of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) absconding leader Murad Seeed.

Justice Ijaz Anwar wrote the judgment and said the writ cannot be heard as the Election Tribunal was dysfunctional.

A larger bench of the PHC consisting of Justice Ishtaq Ibrahim, Justice Ijaz Anwar and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah had taken up the writ a day before.

Justice Ijaz Anwar in his judgment said the Election Tribunal was dysfunctional, hence there was no possibility of its implementation even if the case was remanded.

He said the counsel for the Election Commission of Pakistan had taken the plea that ballot papers for all constituencies had been sent for printing.

The judgement said that counsel for the petitioner had said that he had returned the ticket for the General Elections 2024.

As the petitioner himself does not want to contest the elections, therefore, further hearing into the case at this stage could not be continued and the petition is disposed of, read the judgment.

It is worth mentioning that Murad Saeed, who was a federal minister during the PTI government, has been absconding after the May 9 violence triggered by the arrest of the party founder Imran Khan.

The returning officer (RO) had rejected his nomination papers in his hometown of Swat on the grounds that he was wanted by the law-enforcement agencies.

The Election Tribunal had upheld the RO decision when Murad Saeed had filed an appeal against the decision.

The PTI leader later moved the PHC and filed an appeal. The court had formed a larger bench on the issue which had heard the case a day before.