ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision to conduct a vote recount in three National Assembly constituencies—NA-154, NA-81, and NA-79.
The ruling was delivered by a three-member bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, with Justices Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi.
The bench, with a 2-1 majority, reinstated the ECP’s recount directive after Azhar Qayum Nahra of PML-N challenged the Lahore High Court’s suspension of his victory notification from NA-81.
This decision overturns the Lahore High Court’s previous ruling and reinstates PML-N members Azhar Qayum Nahra, Abdul Rehman Kanju, and Zulfiqar Ahmed as National Assembly members.
The recounts were requested after independent candidates affiliated with PTI initially won the general elections in these constituencies. Following the recount, the ECP declared the PML-N candidates as the winners, a decision now supported by the Supreme Court. Justice Aqeel Abbasi dissented from the majority ruling.
