Election tribunal rejected Pervaiz Rashid’s appeal against rejection of Senate nomination papers
ISLAMABAD: PTI Minister Faisal Vawda, who had a US passport while submitting his papers in the 2018 elections found no problems with his senate nomination papers but PML-N’s Pervaiz Rashid’s papers have been rejected.
The election tribunal on Tuesday rejected an appeal filed by PML-N leader Pervaiz Rashid against the rejection of his Senate nomination papers by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
According to the details, The verdict was issued by a single-member bench of Justice Shahid Waheed after the arguments in the case had finished.
During a hearing, Rashid’s lawyer said that the RO had rejected his client’s papers saying that the former information minister was a defaulter of the Punjab House in Islamabad and his nomination would be accepted only after he cleared the dues. The lawyer said that Rashid did not receive any prior notice for paying off his dues and was given one during the scrutiny process.
The judge asked the government’s legal representative if the record of the Punjab House and ECP had been released to which the latter responded in the affirmative.
The PML-N leader was ready to pay off all his dues and a request in this regard was submitted to the RO twice but there was no response, said Rashid’s lawyer. He urged the court to check the Punjab House’s record to see that Rashid had not stayed in the government building.
Rashid’s legal team further added that Pervez Rashid has contested the Senate election before as well. No one raised the issue of pending dues then.
“If Pervez Rashid did not stay at the Punjab House, why is he ready to pay off the dues?” asked the objector. He added that the RO had given Rashid 48 hours to clear his dues but the former minister failed to do so.
“Where did Pervez Rashid have to submit the dues?” asked the judge.
“The money was supposed to be paid to the controller but it was not submitted,” the objector responded. When the court asked Punjab House’s controller, who was also present in court, about the matter he said: “I was in the hospital that day. No one contacted me or my staff.”
The controller presented the record of the Punjab House as well as the audit report in court. He said that a notice regarding pending dues was sent at Rashid’s DHA residence.
Meanwhile, Advocate General (AG) of Punjab, who was also a respondent in the case, said that Pervez Rashid was not given a room on a charity basis, there are charges for a room
After hearing both sides’ arguments, the tribunal turned down Rashid’s appeal.
On the other hand, the Election tribunal on Tuesday allows PTI’s Faisal Vawda to contest Senate polls.
According to the details, the Sindh High Court election tribunal rejected on Tuesday an appeal against the nomination papers of PTI leader and federal minister Faisal Vawda for the upcoming Senate poll.
The court allows him to contest the upcoming polls.
The tribunal heard Qadir Khan Mandokhel’s appeal against the returning officer’s decision to approve Vawda’s nomination papers for the Senate elections.
During the hearing, the tribunal rejected Mandokhel’s appeal against Vawda and upheld the PTI leader’s nomination.
The tribunal said the appellant can file a constitutional petition if he wishes to.
During the hearing, the media was not allowed to cover the event.
This comes as PML-N leader Pervaiz Rasheed nomination papers were rejected by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
According to the reports, the Punjab government had released a list of people in 2018 who had not cleared their bills for staying and taking meals at the Punjab House.
Rasheed was also among those who were named in the list.
A total of six objections were raised on his nomination for a Senate seat. The commission overruled five of the objections but rejected his papers over non-payment of Rs9.5 million dues.
The objections were raised by the PTI’s MPA Zainab Omar by her lawyer Rana Mudassar to the returning officer/provincial election commissioner in Lahore.
According to the list, Pervaiz Rashid along with other PML-N leaders, government officials and their relatives owed a total amount exceeding Rs60 million.
As per the list, Rasheed owed a sum of Rs7.05 million of which Rs0.69 million was owed for his stay in 2011 from January to August and Rs6.4 million for his stay between June 2013 and May 2018. The list also mentioned the name of his daughter, Poonam Rasheed, also a Senator, who owed Rs2.7 million.
The list contained the names of former attorney general Ashtar Ausaf who had to pay Rs0.6 million, Khurram Rashid Rs2.2 million and Malik Zulfiqar who was allegedly a defaulter of Rs0.287 million.
Moazzam Ali was to pay Rs2.9 million, Mujahid Sherdil Rs1.287 million, Mustafa Ramday Rs3.952 million and Nabeel Awan Rs2.597 million, according to the list.
