Supreme Court orders acceptance of PTI candidate’s nomination papers

Declaring that the excuse given by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that ballot papers had already been printed was unacceptable, the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday ordered the acceptance of nomination papers of Sardar Shahbaz Sial, PTI candidate from NA-144 and PP-212, Khanewal, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

A three-member bench of the SC, headed by Justice Muneeb Akhtar, gave the verdict.

The court also ordered the ECP to allot an election symbol to the candidate.

During the hearing, Justice Muneeb said that the bench was mindful of the difficulties confronting the election commission. “But we also have to ensure a balance between the difficulties the ECP is facing and the basic rights of citizens,” the judge said, and made an observation that the high court while giving decision in the case did not keep in view the facts.

Speaking on the occasion, counsel for the petitioner said that his client’s papers had been rejected because he was wanted in a case of power theft. “But the truth of the matter is that we are not aware of this case,” he added.

Reporter: Amanat Gishkori