ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday dismissed a petition that challenged the former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s eligibility to contest election from NA-57 Rawalpindi. The court cleared him to contest the election.
Masood Ahmed Abbasi petitioned on Thursday against the approval of the former premier’s nomination papers for NA-57. He alleged that the candidate ‘understated’ the facts.
The petition stated that Abbasi should be barred from the electoral race by annulling Lahore High Court verdict. Justice Ijazul Ahsan, member of the bench that heard the petition, questioned that if Abbasi had concealed facts then where was the evidence.
Chief Justice Saqib Nisar ordered the lawyer to inform the court what Abbasi had “misstated”. Properties mentioned in income tax returns are also mentioned in the nomination papers, the judge remarked.
Giving permission to the former PM to contest the upcoming election, the court dismissed the petition.
