LHC bench formed for third time to hear pleas

LAHORE: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Thursday constituted for third time a new three-member bench for hearing of pleas against candidature of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz for NA-120. Justice Aminuddin Khan would be the head of the bench while Justice Ibadur Rehamn Lodhi and Justice Shahid Jamil would be the other members.

Till the filing of this report, it is not clear yet when the bench will take up the case as Friday (today) is the last working day of the ongoing week. The next week is commencing from Sept 10 while the by-election is due on Sept 17.

PPP's Faisal Mir, PAT's Ishtiaq Chaudhary and Milli Muslim League have challenged candidature of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz for by-election. They have challenged the decisions of the returning officer of NA-120 and the election tribunal regarding acceptance of nomination papers of Begum Kulsoom Nawaz for NA-120 constituency.

Two full bench which were constituted for hearing of these pleas have been dissolved; first when Justice Farrukh Irfan Khan, head of three-member bench, refused to hear the matter for personal reasons and second time when Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza declined to hear the case for personal reasons.

The petitioners through their counsel submitted that Kulsoom concealed facts from the RO and told a lie, therefore, she had lost reason to contest election on the seat. They said that she showed herself dependent on Nawaz Sharif but she had shares in some companies and had drawn salary from a UAE-based company. Kulsoom had also Iqama of the UAE, they said. They prayed to the court to set aside the decisions of the RO and the election tribunal and bar her from contesting by-elections. The seat of NA-120 fell vacant on July 28 when the Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif in Panama Papers case.