LHC decision annulled, membership of three PML-N MNAs restored

Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan Monday declared null and void the decision of the Lahore High Court (LHC) and granted the recount requests of three members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to the National Assembly and reinstated them.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, heard the recount petitions in different polling stations of NA-154, NA-81 and NA-79.

The Supreme Court approved the appeals of the PML-N leaders while restoring the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision regarding the recount of votes and annulled the LHC’s decision in this regard.

The Supreme Court restored the decision of the ECP by a majority of two to one. Justice Aqeel Abbasi gave a dissenting decision while the majority decision said that the ECP is a constitutional body and its decision should be respected.

The court reinstated the election commission's decision regarding the recount of votes and reinstated PML-N members Azhar Qayyum Nahra, Abdul Rehman Kanju, and Zulfiqar Ahmed.