The Supreme Court has overturned the Lahore High Court's (LHC) verdict on votes recounting in three National Assembly constituencies and one Punjab Assembly constituency and restored the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan reinstating PML-N candidates on these seats, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Accepting the appeals of the PML-N leaders about recounting of votes in NA-79 Gujranwala, NA-81 Gujranwala, NA-154 Lodhran and PP-133 Nankana constituencies on Monday, the apex court in its 2-1 majority order cleared the way for their return to Parliament.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan ruled to overturn the LHC decision while Justice Aqeel Abbasi opted to disagree with them.
The case came to light after Azhar Qayum Nahra of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had challenged the LHC’s decision to suspend his victory notification from NA-81.
Initially, PTI-backed independent candidate Chaudhry Bilal was declared a winner by a margin of 7,791 votes in the general elections 2024. However, after a recount requested by Nahra, the ECP had declared Nahra the returned candidate, with a margin of 3,100 votes. During the recount, at least 10,000 of Nahra’s votes were declared cancelled. Bilal then challenged the ECP’s decision in the LHC, which on April 4, set aside the notification of Azhar Nahra’s victory from from NA-81.
The court had also ruled that the ECP could not entertain complaints against election disputes once election tribunals begin their work.
Following the apex court's ruling, PML-N leaders Azhar Qayum Nahra, Abdul Rehman Kanju, and Zulfiqar Ahmed have been reinstated as National Assembly members.
The Supreme Court has also restored PML-N’s Rana Muhammad Arshad as returned candidate from PP-133 Nankana. ECP recounting had given Arshad a victory margin of 2,400 and the election commission issued notification of his success on April 9.
The recount request for the constituencies of NA-154 (Lodhran), NA-81 (Gujranwala), and NA-79 (Gujranwala) had been filed with the top court leading to this decision.
In the general elections, three independent candidates affiliated with PTI, Rana Faraz Noon from NA-154, Bilal Ejaz from NA-81 Gujranwala, and Ehsanullah Wark from NA-79 Gujranwala were initially declared successful.
However, PML-N candidates Abdul Rehman Kanju, Azhar Qayum Nahra, and Zulfiqar Ahmed requested a recount from the ECP. Following the recount, the ECP declared the PML-N candidates as winners.
The ECP had declared Nahra the winner, with a margin of 3,100 votes, though at least 10,000 of Nahra's votes were invalidated during the recount.
The independent candidates challenged that the ECP's decision in the LHC, the court annulled the commission's ruling and reinstated the original winners.
PML-N members then appealed the LHC's decision to the Supreme Court. The apex court, in a majority decision, reinstated the ECP's ruling and approved the appeals of the PML-N candidates.
Reporter Amanat Gishkori