Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activist Sanam Javed Khan has been granted permission to contest the upcoming Senate elections from a women's reserved seat in Punjab. The Lahore High Court's Justice Shahid Bilal Hasan issued an 11-page written decision on Tuesday, overturning the Election Commission's (ECP) rejection of her nomination papers. Javed, currently incarcerated, had challenged the ECP's decision in the tribunal. The court noted that PTI leader Umar Sarfraz Cheema's nomination papers, submitted while he was also in jail, were approved. The tribunal deemed the ECP's act of not verifying Javed's papers due to her imprisonment discriminatory. The decision further addressed the ECP's objection regarding Javed's husband's unfiled 2023 tax return.

The court acknowledged Javed's husband's arrest in May 2023 as a reason for the delay, stating that the returning officer should have considered these "unavoidable circumstances." Additionally, the verdict highlighted Javed's participation in the recent general election, where her nomination papers were accepted. The court asserted that basic rights cannot be denied under present conditions and declared the ECP's rejection order null and void. With this verdict, Sanam Javed is now included in the list of candidates contesting the Punjab women's reserved seat in the upcoming Senate elections. The returning officer has been directed to acknowledge her participation.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan