Islamabad: A court in Pakistan on Friday allowed former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to contest the upcoming elections from his home constituency, overturning an election tribunal’s decision to disqualify him.
Abbasi welcomed the decision of the Lahore High Court, headed by judge Mazahir Ali Naqwi.
“As you know, that decision was flawed. I filed an appeal with the Lahore High Court against that decision and today the Lahore High Court overturned it. Now I can run from Murree, which is my home constituency as well,” Efe quoted Abbasi as saying.
Court spokesperson Arif Dar confirmed that the bench had overturned the disqualification order after the defense argued that the tribunal had exceeded its powers, as it did not have the authority to disqualify a candidate.
On Wednesday an appellate election tribunal had disqualified Abbasi from the Murree constituency for allegedly hiding facts and not providing the accurate value of his assets in the nomination papers, deeming it a violation of article 62 of the constitution.
—IANS