Law: Elections Act, 2017

Section: 62

Law: Constitution of Pakistan, 1973

Section: 62(1)(d)(e)(f)(g)

Elections Act (XXXIII of 2017)--- ----S. 62---Constitution of Pakistan, Art. 62(1)(d), (e), (f) & (g)---Elections for seat of National Assembly---Nomination papers---Nomination papers of petitioner (candidate) rejected by the High Court on the ground that he was a proclaimed offender in a criminal case---Validity---There was no provision either in the Constitution or in the Elections Act, 2017 that made a proclaimed offender disqualified from contesting the election, and the courts cannot on their own create such additional disqualification, without any backing of the law---Further, in this particular case, the petitioner was declared a proclaimed offender in a criminal case, however, he obtained a protective bail in the case by surrendering himself to the court; he, therefore, could not be considered a proclaimed offender---Furthermore Article 62(1)(d), (e), (f) and (g) was not self-executory and served as guidelines for the voters in exercising their right to vote, hence even being a proclaimed offender did not attract the disqualification under the said provisions--- Petition was converted into an appeal and the same was allowed; the impugned order of the High Court was set aside and the nomination paper of the petitioner for the seat of a Member of the National Assembly stood accepted with the direction to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure that all the necessary steps to be taken in the electoral process were completed forthwith so that the petitioner could contest the election on the scheduled date for the seat in question, without fail. Hamza Rasheed Khan v. Election Appellate Tribunal and others Civil Appeal No. 982 of 2018 ref. ORDER SYED MANSOOR ALI SHAH, J.---The petitioner seeks leave to appeal against the order dated 12.01.2024, passed by a Full Bench of the Lahore High Court, Lahore, whereby his nomination paper for seat of the National Assembly from NA-87, Khushab, was rejected on the ground that he is a proclaimed offender in a criminal case. 2. Briefly, the facts are that the nomination paper of the petitioner was rejected by the Returning Officer ("RO") on the same ground on 30.12.2023, however, on appeal, the Appellate…

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