PML-N’s Pervaiz Rasheed wants his Senate nomination approved

The Lahore High Court election tribunal summoned a record from Punjab House while hearing a petition against the rejection of the nomination papers of PML-N’s Pervaiz Rasheed for the Senate elections.

During Monday’s hearing, the bench, headed by Justice Shahid Waheed, issued a notice to the Election Commission of Pakistan and instructed the electoral body to submit its reply.

On February 20, Rasheed filed a petition challenging the rejection of his nomination papers. According to the returning officer, he was a defaulter of Punjab House in Islamabad, and his nomination will only be accepted after the dues are paid.

His lawyer Azam Nazir told the court that Rasheed went to Punjab House and waited for 28 hours but there was no official on the seat to collect the money. “Despite multiple notices by the court we were not given any outstanding payments records,” he claimed.

To this, Judge Waheed asked the leader why he didn’t make the payments on time. “You should have had cleared the dues the moment you left Punjab House.”

Rasheed’s lawyer requested the judge to make a decision in favour of his client. The court has adjourned the hearing till February 23, Tuesday.

According to a list issued by the Punjab government, Rasheed owes Rs7.05 million, which includes Rs0.69m for his stay from January to August in 2011 and Rs6.4 million for his stay between June 2013 and May 2018.