The Supreme Court (SC) has overturned the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision to recount votes in three National Assembly constituencies, according to a report by PressTonight.
A three-member bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa, issued the ruling concerning the vote recounts in the constituencies of NA-154 Lodhran, NA-81 Gujranwala, and NA-79 Gujranwala. Justice Aqeel Abbasi, however, dissented from the decision.
The case originated after Azhar Qayum Nahra of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) challenged the LHC’s ruling, which had suspended his victory notification from NA-81. Initially, Chaudhry Bilal, an independent candidate backed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was declared the winner by a margin of 7,791 votes in the 2024 general elections.
Following a recount requested by Nahra, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) declared him the winner by a margin of 3,100 votes, although at least 10,000 of Nahra’s votes were canceled during the recount. Chaudhry Bilal subsequently challenged the ECP’s decision in the Lahore High Court, which on April 4 nullified Nahra’s victory notification and ruled that the ECP could not entertain election disputes once election tribunals began their work.
This latest Supreme Court ruling reverses the LHC’s verdict, reinstating the initial ECP decision.
