Islamabad: The Supreme Court has reinstated the Election Commission’s decision for a vote recount in three National Assembly constituencies, dismissing the Lahore High Court’s ruling. The court accepted the petitions of PML-N candidates who had challenged the Lahore High Court’s verdict.
A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, including Justices Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, heard the cases concerning the recount requests in various polling stations of NA-154, NA-81, and NA-79. The court overturned the Lahore High Court’s decision and declared the PML-N candidates successful.
The Supreme Court reinstated the Election Commission’s decision regarding the vote recount, approving the appeals of the PML-N leaders and nullifying the Lahore High Court’s judgment. The court restored the membership of PML-N National Assembly members Azhar Qayyum Nahra, Abdul Rehman Kanju, and Zulfiqar Ahmed.
The decision was made by a 2-1 majority, with Justice Aqeel Abbasi dissenting. The majority ruling emphasized that the Election Commission is a constitutional body whose decisions must be respected. The court also criticized the unnecessary remarks made by Lahore High Court judges about the Election Commission’s chairman and members, deeming the High Court’s decision unsustainable.
This legal battle began when PML-N’s Azhar Qayum Nahra challenged the Lahore High Court’s suspension of his victory notification from NA-81. The SC’s decision effectively nullifies the LHC’s previous ruling, restoring the ECP’s decision to recount the votes.
The recount was initially requested after three independent candidates, associated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), were declared winners in the 2023 general elections. The ECP’s recount later declared the PML-N candidates victorious, a decision contested by the independent candidates in the LHC, which was now overturned by the Supreme Court.
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