Sanam Javed’s nomination papers rejected

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Appellate Tribunal on Sunday rejected the appeals of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activist Sanam Javaid against the dismissal of her nomination papers.

The tribunal affirmed the decision of the returning officer (RO) who had rejected Sanam’s nomination papers for two National Assembly seats (NA-120 and NA-119) and one provincial assembly seat (PP-150). Justice Tariq Nadeem delivered the verdict on her appeals.

Sanam had submitted her nomination papers on December 19 to contest elections against Maryam Nawaz for Lahore’s provincial assembly seat, PP-150.

Sanam, along with several other PTI members, is currently in custody in connection with the May 9 riots that ensued after the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan in a corruption case. She faces multiple charges, including involvement in the attack on the Corps Commander House in Lahore and the burning of police vehicles during the violent protests earlier in the year.

On a different note, the tribunal deferred a decision on an appeal filed by Nadeem Sherwani challenging the acceptance of nomination papers for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz from NA-119. The decision postponement occurred after the petitioner submitted additional documents to support his appeal.

Meanwhile, the LHC Appellate Tribunal overturned the RO’s decision to reject the nomination papers of PTI leader Hammad Azhar and his father Mian Azhar from PP-171 due to their seconders and proposers not appearing. The seconders and proposers appeared before the tribunal, leading Justice Ahmed Nadeem Arshad to announce a favorable verdict.

However, Justice Tariq Nadeem dismissed Azhar’s appeal against the rejection of his papers from the NA-129 constituency.