ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court restored the Union Council Chairman Zaffar Ashraf on Tuesday and declared his disqualification verdict by Lahore High Court (LHC) null and void.
The court also remarked that the opponent candidate can file reference before election tribunal in this regard. The division bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan and Justice Qazi Faez Isa heard the case.
LHC had disqualified Zaffar as chairman of Union Council No 5 Sahiwal over the appeal of the opponent candidate. The opponent had alleged that Zaffar was not eligible to contest elections as he was also a member of the market committee.
Later, Zaffar appealed before the apex court against LHC verdict. During the course of proceedings, Zaffar’s counsel Chaudhry Mushtaq told the court that his client was elected as chairman union council with votes and that the LHC had disqualified him beyond its jurisdiction.
The counsel for opponent candidate told the court that according to the rules a market committee member cannot contest local bodies’ elections. Justice Ejaz remarked that there was a difference in a member and an employee of a market committee. He observed that the rules did not bar any market committee member to contest elections. Later, the Supreme Court dismissed the LHC verdict and disposed of the case.
