Former chief minister of Punjab Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has filed a petition in the Supreme Court to seek permission to contest the general election, a private TV channel reported on Wednesday.
Pervaiz Elahi has made the election commission and appellate tribunal as respondents. He pleaded to the apex court to declare the January 13, 2024, decision of the Lahore High Court as void. The high court had dismissed his appeal regarding the returning officer’s rejection of his nomination papers. He contested this decision in the election appellate tribunal, where his appeal was denied.
He has pleaded to the apex court that his nomination papers were rejected on the objection of a candidate Muhammad Saleem. “He objected that I have shares in a flour mill, while that mill has been inoperative, even the bank account was not opened,” Elahi said in his petition. “I didn’t buy shares of the flour mill, and an inoperative mill could not be deemed an asset,” he pleaded. “I could not be prohibited from contesting election over this objection,” he said. “The shares that are being attributed to me have total value of 24,850 rupees,” Elahi said. “I have declared 175 million rupees assets, including a cash of over 57 million rupees,” he said.
“Not to declare the shares of this meager value by me could not be termed malicious intent,” he petitioned.
“There is another objection that I didn’t declare seven arms licenses. There is no column to fill in nomination papers about arms license,” he argued.
