ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani Supreme Court has ruled that everyone has the fundamental right to run for office and that no one may be denied the opportunity to do so because they have absconded.
On Friday, the Supreme Court rendered a decision on PTI leader Umar Aslam’s appeal against the rejection of his nomination documents.
The appeal was considered by a three-judge panel led by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and including Justices Jamal Mandokhel and Athar Minallah.
Judge Mansoor questioned Barrister Ali Zafar, the appellant’s attorney, about the reason behind the rejection of Umar Aslam’s nomination papers. Is Umar Aslam a wanted person?
Aslam, according to Barrister Zafar, was placed under pre-arrest bail after one of his constitutional applications to run in the elections was denied and the other accepted.
The question of which legislation forbids a fugitive or absconder from running for office was posed by Justice Mansoor.
Election Commission legal counsel stated that an absconder or fugitive is guilty of breaking the law and is therefore ineligible to run for office.
Election contestation, according to Justice Mansoor, is a fundamental right. Refusing someone to exercise their fundamental right by keeping them from voting is a form of punishment.
How is it possible to keep someone from voting? He noted that the people of Pakistan should choose their own representatives.
He asked under which provision of Articles 17, 62, and 63 does a runaway lose their basic right to vote?
Justice Mandokhel questioned the Election Commission’s authority to declare someone to be an absconder vs the court’s.
Justice Minallah questioned whether the Pakistani people or the candidates are responsible for the Election Commission. He noted that it answers to the people of Pakistan.
The Election Commission’s legal representative stated that once ballots are printed, they cannot be altered.
The Election Commission ought to have been aware that cases will be brought before courts, according to Justice Mansoor.
Afterwards, the bench granted Umar Aslam’s petition and permitted him to run for office.
Tahir Sadiq, the leader of the PTI, was also permitted by the bench to run for office in the National Assembly from NA-49 Attock.
Sadiq appealed the Lahore High Court’s ruling rejecting his nomination papers, and the Supreme Court reversed the ruling.
