By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday reinstated four Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidates as National Assembly members, overturning a Lahore High Court (LHC) decision that had suspended their victory notifications.
In a majority verdict, the top court ruled that the LHC judges had exceeded their jurisdiction and used harsh language against constitutional bodies.
“The high court’s jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution was not invoked correctly,” Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa wrote in the verdict. “The judges of the high court overlooked constitutional preconditions before exercising jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution.”
The case involved the recount of votes in three National Assembly constituencies and one provincial assembly constituency, where PML-N candidates had requested a recount after initially losing to independent candidates affiliated with former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
The PTI supported candidates were initially declared successful, but the PML-N candidates requested a recount, leading to the ECP declaring them winners. The independent candidates then challenged the ECP’s decision in the LHC, which overturned the election outcome, prompting the PML-N candidates to approach the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court’s decision reinstates Abdul Rehman Kanju (NA-154), Abdul Qayyum Nahara (NA-81), Zulfiqar Ahmed (NA-79), and Rana Muhammad Arshad (PP-133) as National Assembly members.
The top court observed that the recounting of votes was an administrative task, not a judicial function, and that the ECP was the sole authority to conduct elections.
“Institutions gain in stature when they act respectfully,” Chief Justice Isa added.
Justice Aqeel Abbasi dissented from the majority verdict, stating that the LHC judgments did not suffer from any factual error or legal infirmity.
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