RO's decision of rejecting Parvez Elahi, wife's nomination papers upheld

RAWALPINDI: An appellate tribunal on Monday rejected former Punjab chief minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) President Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his wife Qaisara Elahi’s appeals against the rejection of their nomination papers by the Returning Officers (ROs), with sought-after general election inching closer.

The appellants had approached the tribunal through their lawyers, contending to overturn the RO’s decision of rejecting their nomination papers from NA-59 and PP-23 and declaring them "disqualified" for contesting general elections.

Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz heard Elahi and his wife’s pleas today, whereas, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was represented by its Law Officer Falak Sher and Assistant Director Law Zulqarnain Haider in the hearing.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the appellate tribunal upheld RO’s decision regarding their disqualification after finding objections to the nomination papers correct.

The nomination papers of the senior politician and his wife had been rejected by the returning officer during the scrutiny process.

A series of objections were raised against them, which included the concealing of assets, non-disclosure of shares in different companies, Qaisara’s foreign visit, non-compliance with the rule to open separate bank accounts for expenditures in both constituencies, technical mistakes in documents and submitting documents without verification from the oath commission.

The decision can still be challenged in a superior court.

The senior PTI leader was initially arrested on June 1 in a Rs70 million graft case related to the embezzlement of development funds allocated for the Gujrat district, and has been behind bars ever since.

He was released several times in between, only to be re-arrested immediately in different cases, including a money laundering case and allegations of illegal appointments in the Punjab Assembly.