A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial will hear a petition of former president Pervez Musharraf, five months after his death, filed against rejection of his nomination papers for National Assembly seat from Kasur in 2013 general elections. The bench which also comprises Justice Ayesha A Malik and Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi will hear the petition on July 17 (Monday). A three-judge Supreme Court bench consisting of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ayesha A. Malik and Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi will take up the matter. The returning officer appointed by Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in 2013, accepting an appeal filed by Advocate Javed Kasuri against nomination papers of former president and military ruler general Pervez Musharraf, had rejected Musharraf’s papers on six grounds from NA-139 Kasur for the lower house seat.

Consequently, the returning officer had declared the former army chief ineligible to contest the elections from NA-139 seat. As a result, the ECP had debarred him from the polls in Kasur in view of different court cases filed against him for violating the country’s Constitution several times. Mr Musharraf had approached the Supreme Court and challenged the rejection of his nomination papers by RO in the Supreme Court. Earlier, despite the former military ruler extreme desire, the Supreme Court did not fix Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf  plea against his conviction in a high treason case for the last three years. After his demise, the appeal is expected to become infructuous. The SC did not fix Musharraf plea in an open court challenging the registrar’s decision of not entertaining his appeal, in which he sought to overturn the Dec 17, 2019 death sentence awarded to him by the special court in a high treason case.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP